


Weightless

by golari



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Space, F/F, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-05-31 03:36:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 57,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6453817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golari/pseuds/golari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She used to call her parents' cabin in the political wing of Republic home. It was modest but comfortably furnished, a luxury afforded to members of the council. It was there she had bent water for the first time and made her father so proud. </p><p>It was there that she had bent fire for the first time and changed everything.</p><p>It had never happened before. In the five hundred years since Republic had separated from Earth and its colonies no one had been able to bend more than one element. Her parents were questioned. Korra was examined. But no one had any answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Korra, I don’t like this.”

“Of course you don’t, that’s exactly why I’m doing it.”

Korra could practically hear Mako frowning. “The mesh is going to rip open and if you’re on it when it happe—”

“Mako, I really don’t need a physics lesson in all the ways my body will explode if this goes wrong.” Korra shimmied her way down the length of the tugboat, hand over fist, desperately wishing she could shut off her comms. But of course Mako had disabled that feature in her suit a few missions ago. _“With good reason,” he had said. “Pompous asshole,” she had said._

“You won’t explode, your blood will boil and all of the water in your body will turn to vapor and—”

“Hey Bo, can I get a hand?” Korra interrupted impatiently when she reached the tether that connected the wire mesh to the tugboat. She heard Mako huff indignantly but ignored him.

Bolin’s voice buzzed in her ear. “On it!”

Korra could see that the several small asteroids they had collected were still in place within the mesh, but they wouldn’t be for long. A large section of the mesh had torn violently and if it ripped any more there would be no way for them to bring the asteroids back to Republic. Korra narrowed her eyes as she regarded the sight. Mako might be right about the mesh, but she wasn’t about to admit that now.

Korra glanced behind her to watch as Bolin scrambled towards her. Once he had reached her and clipped the tether of his suit to the hand railing, Korra unclipped hers and strapped it around the waist of her orange patterned space suit. She kept a hand on the railing and looked out at the mesh and the asteroids within.

“W-what are you doing?” Bolin asked with an edge of concern.

Korra didn’t look at him, instead trying to judge the distance she would have to travel. “I’m going out there but I need you to hold the asteroids in place. If I hit them even a little they’ll bump each other and completely tear the mesh.”

 _“What?”_ Mako hissed.

Korra rolled her eyes. “What do you suggest then, Mako? This is the most valuable haul we’ve had in months, Republic _needs_ this. It has water, minerals—I mean, I have to _try_ , and I have to go _now_.”

Korra could hear Mako sputtering from within the tugboat but Bolin’s answer was the only one she needed. Their helmets were too tinted for her to make out his features but she peered at his visor anyway, trying to gauge his reaction. After a long moment, he simply nodded.

Korra returned the nod with a determined grin. Her fingers ghosted over the oxygen canisters at her wrists, an unconscious tick to make sure they were in place. She planted her feet against the side of the tugboat, holding herself against it with the handrail and let out a long breath before turning towards Bolin. He reached his hand out and earthbent the asteroids together. “Go,” he said forcefully.

Korra leapt. She let go of the railing and pushed off hard with her feet, sending her towards the asteroids. It was a decent jump but she was forced to twist her wrist, letting out a stream of oxygen from her canisters and bending a short burst of fire from her hand to course correct a little. The flames caught the oxygen, keeping the fire alight even in the vacuum. It banked her towards the asteroids, but she couldn’t help but come in fast and landed hard against one of them.

Bolin grunted harshly while trying to keep the asteroids from moving from the impact. “There’s too much metal in the asteroids, I can’t keep a hold on them.”

Korra unwrapped her tether from around herself and held it loosely in one hand. “I’ll make it quick.” She started to scramble up the mesh but her fingers slipped against the layers of ice that surrounded the asteroids and made her falter more than a few times. She bumped hard against one of the asteroids and Bolin let out a stuttered breath.

“I’m going to get closer,” he said breathlessly. Korra stopped, clinging to the mesh with just her fingers and looked back at him. Bolin released his grip on the handhold and let his body float freely, allowing him the use of both hands. The asteroids jerked violently under Korra and she reflexively groped the mesh harder to keep from being thrown off.

“Okay, this is a little better,” Bolin muttered through gritted teeth.

He was drifting towards her, his arms tight against his body and his tether pulled taut against his waist. Earthbending while floating was incredibly hard, and Korra knew she had to hurry. She resumed her climb with more urgency while trying to touch the asteroids as little as possible, especially when they grinded together ominously.

It wasn’t very long before she reached the tear, but it was too long just the same. “I’m there,” she announced as she clipped her tether to an intact part of the mesh.

“How bad is it?” Mako asked.

“Bad,” she answered. “It’s about to go. I’m going to have to metalbend it together.”

She reached out to the metal and started to shape it and bring the edges together. Bolin panted in her ear, “Korra, I’m losing it!”

“I’m almost there Bo, hold on.” She haphazardly bent the ends of wires together into messy knots.

“Shit, my tether’s tearin—” The asteroids shifted and spread out, striking the mesh. Korra’s hurried repair held, for the moment.

Mako’s voice cracked through the coms. “Bolin! Bolin, what happened?”

Korra ducked her head around the asteroid to see Bolin frantically grasping at the torn edge of his tether. Oh _no_.

“Bolin’s off structure!” Korra yelled. He was drifting out too far, she wouldn’t be able to reach him fast enough, even with firebending propelling her.

Mako shouted, “I’m coming!” but Korra knew that he would never reach Bolin in time either. She let go of the mesh, letting her tether do the work and used both hands to bend at the layer of ice that covered the asteroids.

Bending water was usually second nature to Korra, but in the vacuum of space it required a lot more focus and energy. The water constantly resisted her as it tried to become ice again. Korra twisted her arms, heavy with strain, pulling the ice from the asteroids and forcing it into liquid.

She swung the tendril of water out past her, hoping that it would be enough to reach Bolin, who was careening farther away from the tugboat by the second.

“Bolin, you have to tell me when the water has reached you, I can’t tell from here.” Korra kept her voice as even as possible, even with her heart hammering in her throat.

She added more ice to the end of the whip, aiming as best she could at Bolin. There was so little ice left for her to use that she was beginning to panic when Bolin finally shouted, “There! Stay there!”

She immediately released her hold on the water and it froze instantly. Korra could hear the franticness in Mako’s voice. “Bolin? Bolin!”

Bolin’s voice was laced with broken relief. “I’m good, I’m good! She’s got me.”

Korra began reeling him in, replacing the water back onto the asteroids. As soon as he was close enough she grabbed his hand and yanked him against her. Bolin clung to her as she unclipped herself from the mesh and instead clipped herself to him. “We’re good Mako, I’ve got him,” she announced with all the confidence she could muster, which really wasn’t much.

“Great, great. Can you come back inside now, _please_?”

Korra didn’t allow herself to feel her weariness until they were safely inside the tugboat. As soon as the hatch closed behind them Mako was up and out of the pilot's chair and pulling Bolin into a tight hug. Bolin sagged against him.

The tugboat’s automated system counted out as it repressurized and Korra let out a long sigh when it finally announced, “Atmosphere pressurized.” She unclipped her helmet with shaky fingers and wrenched it off her head almost desperately.

Mako helped Bolin remove his helmet and led Bolin to his seat before taking control of the tugboat once again. “We’re getting close, I’m going to start slowing down now. Do you think the mesh will hold, Korra?”

She shrugged. “I can only hope.”

Korra collapsed into her seat behind Mako’s chair and leaned her head back, letting her eyes fall closed. Returning to Republic was always jarring for her. She, Mako and Bolin would be out in the darkness analyzing asteroids or the occasional comet for hours on end and it always took Korra a moment to adjust to the bright lights emanating from the space station.

After what felt like only seconds but must have been several minutes later, Mako stiffly announced into his comm, “Command, this is Tug two, coming in. We have a heavy load.”

“Affirmative, welcome back Tug two,” came the reply. Korra opened her eyes, blinking against the harsh light as they flew into the hangar. Most of the other tugboats that went out that morning alongside them had already come in. All of them appeared to be empty handed. Korra sighed. The quartermaster would not be happy.

Republic was comprised of a series of tubes all rotating in unison around a stationary hangar. This left the hangar in zero gravity but upon entering the interior one would immediately feel the weight of the artificial gravity created by the centripetal force of rotation. Republic was massive, housing thousands of people and every one of them, Korra included, were born on it.

Mako coasted the tugboat in with practiced ease. Already the hangar crew was hovering close by in their suits, ready to secure the asteroids as soon as they docked. Korra slowly peeled herself from her chair. Mako made to help his brother but Bolin shook his head as he stood up steadily, if wearily. Korra reluctantly replaced her helmet over her head.

The hatch opened and Korra leapt out of the tugboat. She weakly firebent a blast of fire to propel her to the airlock, completely ignoring all of the personnel around her. Mako followed close behind with Bolin gripping his shoulder a little tighter than he probably needed to.

Several rotating airlocks were in motion around the hangar, and Korra headed straight for the closest one. She glided in, grabbed onto one of the handholds and waited for Mako and Bolin to follow suit. Once they were inside Bolin hit the airlock button and the door sealed itself. The chamber hissed loudly as atmosphere was introduced and once the light overhead turned green Korra tore her helmet off with a relieved sigh.

The airlock began to pick up speed, falling into rhythm with the rest of the station. They settled slowly onto the floor and Korra grunted under the new weight. She always hated that part.

Bolin, however, loved it. He collapsed on all fours and kissed the scuffed airlock floor. “Mmwah! Sweet gravity, you are _definitely_ my favorite thing ever. I missed you _so_ much.”

As soon as the airlock doors opened Korra stalked out with Mako fast on her heels. “Korra, we have to talk about that.”

She barely suppressed her eyeroll. “Can we not?”

Mako set his mouth in a thin line. “That was incredibly reckless and—”

“Mako, we have to take risks, it’s our _job_. If we don’t succeed out there Republic doesn’t _survive_. You know that I would never do anything to jeopardize Bolin’s safety and I would have let the asteroids go if I hadn’t seen another way. You have to _trust_ me.” She paused for a beat before adding, “Like I trust you.”

To her surprise, Mako just sighed. “I do. I do trust you. Just… thanks. For saving Bolin, I mean. I’m not sure I would have been able to.” He awkwardly set a hand on Korra’s shoulder in what was probably meant to be a friendly gesture.

“I… would never let anything happen, you know that, right?” Korra asked timidly.

Mako nodded with a soft smile. “Yeah, I know.”

“Aww, I love you guys!” Bolin squealed and wrapped them both in a bone crushing hug, bringing them together painfully. “We make the _best_ team.”

Korra wheezed, “Can’t… breathe, Bolin.”

Bolin released them hastily. “Right! Sorry.”

Korra shook her head in disbelief. “How are you even standing right now? I’m about to pass out right here.”

Mako frowned. “You’d better get some rest, we’ll talk to the quartermaster.”

Korra nodded absentmindedly. “Thanks. I’ll… I’ll see you later.” She trudged down the hall to the waterbender bunk room with a half hearted wave.

 

—

 

Korra woke with a start, her heartbeat hammering in her ears. She desperately tore the covers away from her body and sat up, scooting back to lean against the cool metal of the headboard behind her. The top of her head grazed the bunk above her so she ducked down a little and pressed her fingertips to her forehead. They came away damp and she hastily wiped the sweat with the bottom of her t-shirt. She rubbed at her tired eyes but when the traces of the nightmare flashed in her mind she opened them again immediately.

Well, she didn’t want to call them nightmares, exactly, but neither were they simple dreams. She had been having these episodes with increasing frequency for months, maybe even a year, and every time they came more vividly and intensely.

Most of the time the dreams were of things she didn’t understand, yet they always felt achingly familiar. She was always on a planet. A planet larger than anything she’d ever seen, and when she looked up in search of the comforting blackness of space she would find nothing but blue. Blue with white streaks that went on forever and the planet’s closest star was so bright and warm she could hardly see any of the other stars at all.

She would walk aimlessly. Sometimes she would just be out on the planet surface, walking through unfamiliar plants and trees. Trees so massive Korra could fit her body between the roots that jutted from the ground and stare up at the sky and breathe more deeply than she ever could on Republic. Or anywhere, for that matter.

Sometimes she would be among strange structures, eroded and abandoned. She never saw anyone else but she could feel the shadows of where they’d been, as if she had just missed them.

Every dream was different, and every time _she_ was different. Whenever a dream began Korra would wander, searching. Searching for what, she couldn’t quite say, but every time she found her reflection she would gaze for what felt like years at a complete stranger.

Once she had a long, white beard and wrinkles that stretched across her forehead and wisdom in her eyes that she had not gained.

Once she was tall— _so_ tall—and her face was painted stark white and there was a determined set to her jaw that she had never had.

Once she looked a bit like her father, tall and stocky with skin like hers and pain etched into her every feature that she had not experienced.

This time she had been bald, with tattoos she had not earned tracing her limbs, and there was a joy and friendliness in her smile that made her feel at home.

Wherever home was.

It wasn’t the bunk she occupied now, with the small locker next to it with her name and every possession she owned. It wasn’t the bunk room she was in, with every other waterbender on Republic that was over sixteen. She couldn’t even say that home was Republic, even though it was the only home she had ever known.

She had used to call her parents' cabin in the political wing of Republic home. It was modest but comfortably furnished, a luxury afforded to members of the council. It was there she had bent water for the first time and made her father so proud.

It was there that she had bent fire for the first time and changed everything.

It had never happened before. In the five hundred years since Republic had been separated from Earth and its colonies no one had been able to bend more than one element. Her parents were questioned. Korra was examined. But no one had any answers.

From then on she was different. She didn’t _feel_ different, but of course it didn’t matter. There was a lonely isolation that followed her everywhere she went. The other children resented—and as she would come to later realize, feared—her. Korra started to avoid bending in public, and _never_ fire. Not that it ever made a difference.

The first time she had bent water there was joy. With fire—before she realized what it meant—there was excitement. But after her experiences, there was nothing but terror in Korra when she bent earth for the first time.

Tahno, the little shit, had chased her into the gardens, goading her to bend fire. She had weaved desperately through the crops but he had managed to corner her anyway. Korra’s fear gave way to anger and dirt began to detach itself from the roots of plants and hover inches off the ground. Tahno ran, of course, and Korra’s flash of anger gave way to fear once again. She curled up with her knees to her chest and cried as dirt fell down around her.

There’s where Yorru had found her. Korra had seen the older non-bender around before and knew that he was well-liked, but a bit of a recluse. He had a tall, firebender wife whose name Korra couldn’t remember. She had always admired Yorru’s huge mane of grey hair that shook when he laughed. He wasn’t laughing now. He simply sat on the ground next to Korra and said nothing, just keeping her company until she had run out of tears.

When her crying had been reduced to just sniffles, Yorru began to tell Korra about Earth. He told her about water that fell from the sky and called it rain. He told her about mountains and breezes and oceans. He told her about the Sun and sky. Maybe that’s why when she dreamed of them they felt so familiar.

Or maybe not.

She asked him how he knew about such things if he had never been to Earth. How was he so sure Earth even _existed_? The teachers said so in school, but Korra wasn’t convinced.

Yorru told her that his father had told him, and that his father had told him, and so on. He said he had no children, and so instead he would tell her. He said that most people didn't care to remember Earth. They believed Earth was just a myth.

He also told her that her bending was nothing to be ashamed of. Korra believed him. Korra believed all of it.

Yorru was her first friend but after him would come others. No longer fearful of her abilities she unabashedly used bending whenever possible. She used it often to defend herself and others from Tahno and his cronies. In one such instance she met a young earthbender boy named Bolin. He introduced her to his brother, Mako, and suddenly Korra had three whole friends who didn’t resent or fear her, and that was enough for her.

 

—

 

It was impossible for there to be many kids at any one time on Republic. Space and resources were finite and parents had to gain approval from the council before having a child. So of course, _every_ one knew who Korra was, even Asami. It would be some time, however, before Asami would actually meet her.

All citizens were expected to do their part on Republic and non-benders were no different. Instead of bending they were expected to become engineers, designers, scientists and the like. While Asami took these classes Korra was busy taking every bending class imaginable. There was no kid busier than Korra was. The only time Asami ever caught a glimpse of her was when she was moving smoothly and confidently through corridors at a reckless rate, or being scolded by one professor or another.

Korra was intriguing to Asami. She was brash and pugnacious, and as she grew older she became less and less shy about her abilities. She was talented and she knew it. It set many of Asami’s peers on edge, but Asami was only more interested. She would tell herself that it was only because Korra was different in the most obvious of ways.

It wasn’t until they actually met, at thirteen, when it became apparent to Asami that this was not the case.

Korra wasn’t shy about voicing her dislike of mechanical engineering, but the metalbenders had insisted that she learn some basics anyway. This meant that when Korra needed tutoring, the daughter of Hiroshi Sato and a budding engineer in her own right was called upon.

Asami’s schedule wasn’t very well respected when it came to Korra. The council leaders kept Korra so occupied that Asami was forced to meet her in the strangest of places to study.

Some days it was the sick bay when Korra was learning to heal with waterbending. Some days it was the propulsion rooms when Korra was working with the firebenders to provide the huge amount of thrust needed for Republic to make even the slightest of course changes. Some days it was the gardens, where Korra was forced to use water and earthbending with a finesse that was not exactly her strong suit.

Asami really liked the way Korra attacked everything she was pitted against with enthusiasm and energy. As much as Korra would groan about the coursework, she always worked hard. She put Asami at ease, and Korra always had a crooked grin for her. As they became friends Asami only became more captivated.

Some days it was very hard to concentrate indeed.

It would still be another two years before Asami could admit to herself that she might have feelings for her best friend. Korra had just started dating Mako and Asami was forced to examine why it was that her heart felt so completely shattered whenever she saw them together.

It hadn’t lasted long though and for weeks afterwards Asami would lie in bed at night and feel guilty about how relieved she felt. They were her friends, why couldn’t she have just been supportive and happy for them? Why did her heart feel so much lighter when they were apart?

Nowadays she and Korra were practically inseparable—or at least when they had a choice. Which, unfortunately, wasn’t often even though they both worked in the Surveys and Acquisitions Department. Korra was usually working or on a survey and Asami at her workbench, building equipment. It was hard enough just to meet for dinner in the galley to talk about their shifts.

Recently, however, there had been more days of quiet companionship than animated conversation. Asami always knew when Korra had had a dream. She was quiet and introspective and it was harder for Asami to reach her. She wanted to understand, but she simply couldn’t. She could only be there for Korra however she could.

So when Asami woke up that night and found Korra kneeling by her bedside in the non-benders bunk room, her hair loose and falling in waves around her shoulders, Asami knew exactly what had happened. She always came when the dreams were particularly vivid.

“Korra?” Asami murmured sleepily.

Even in the darkness Asami would know her silhouette anywhere. She didn’t need Korra to answer quietly, “Y-yeah. I’m sorry I just…”

No matter how many times this had happened, Korra was always hesitant. Asami pursed her lips and wordlessly scooted away from Korra, folding back the corner of her blanket in invitation. Korra slipped in next to her and Asami shivered. Probably because of the cold. Yeah, the cold.

Korra laid flat on her back and looked straight ahead at the underside of the top bunk. Asami shifted to face her and laid her fingers against her warm arm. She gave a light tug. Korra got the message and curled towards Asami, leaning into her shoulder. Asami let one hand drape over Korra’s waist and the other found itself woven in her soft hair. She couldn’t help but take several slow, deep breaths. Korra smelled like her shampoo and something else that Asami had spent years trying to place. There was also the smell of salt, as if Korra had been sweating.

Asami could feel the tension in Korra’s limbs melt away with each passing heartbeat. After several moments Asami whispered, “Bad one?”

Korra sighed and Asami felt Korra’s fingers curl in her tank top. “Not bad, exactly just…” After a long beat she continued, “I don’t know. It feels so _real_ , Asami. Why does it feel so real?”

Asami tightened her hold on Korra before answering, “I wish I knew. Do you want to talk about it?”

Korra shrugged against her. “I was… bald.”

“Oh, that _is_ bad,” Asami teased with a barely suppressed smile.

Korra huffed an amused breath. “Yeah. And I had these tattoos and robes. And it felt like I was looking for someone. I was missing someone so _badly_ , I’ve neve—”

Korra cut herself off when they heard Asami’s bunkmate shift positions above them. After waiting with baited breath for several minutes, listening for more movement, Asami asked, “How are you feeling now?”

Korra curled further against Asami and tucked her head against Asami’s collarbone. Asami wondered vaguely if it were possible for a heart to combust. Korra’s voice was muffled against Asami when she answered, “A little better now.” Asami could only hope Korra didn’t notice how hard her heart was beating.

Asami bit her lip to stop from smiling until she remembered that Korra wouldn’t be able to see it. She let it bloom all over her face as Korra’s breathing evened out and she relaxed against her.

 

—

 

Korra always did her best not to wake Asami when she left her bunk in the mornings. Korra would visit Asami often enough that she was sure that at least _some_ of her bunk mates knew, but she still wanted to minimize it as much as possible. She didn’t want anyone to give Asami a hard time.

And the next day Asami would always act as if nothing had happened and Korra would briefly wonder if it even happened at all or if it was just another part of her dreams.

Korra was expected in the department in an hour but she wanted to make a to visit a friend first. Thankfully the corridors were still only dimly lit and most of the people she passed were Republic Security, who paid her no mind.

Yorru’s cabin was about as isolated as one could get on Republic. Somehow he had convinced the council to allow him to repurpose an unused storeroom into a dwelling, far away from the other citizens. Korra had once asked him why and he had simply stated that he and his wife preferred the privacy. Korra had accepted his answer as easily as he had accepted her.

And somehow, Yorru always knew when she was coming. This morning was no different because as she passed the pantries and the escape pod bay she watched Yorru’s door swing open at the end of the hall. She smiled, amused.

“Good morning, Korra,” Yorru said as she arrived at the cabin. He padded back further into his home on bare feet. “Close the door, please.”

She did so and followed him inside. His cabin was sparse, the only furniture being a few faded floormats and a simple bedroll big enough for he and his wife to share. Yorru really preferred to live his life simply, which Korra admired but knew she would never really be able to mimic.

Yorru took a seat and crossed his legs on his favorite floor mat and gestured for Korra to sit across from him. “What’s on your mind?”

Yorru was older now, his mane greyer, but his eyes held the same kindness she had found all those years ago in the gardens. She knew she could go to her parents, of course, but she didn’t want to worry them. Yorru had always held her words in confidence.

“I’ve been having these dreams…” she began awkwardly.

Yorru nodded knowingly. “The same ones you mentioned a few months ago?”

“Er, yeah. Yeah, except that they’ve gotten a lot more intense.”

He fixed her with a stare, focusing all his attention on her. It made her feel cold and exposed, but she trusted Yorru. “What do you see?” he asked.

“I’m pretty sure I’m still on that same planet, but I’m always in a different place and I’m always someone different,” she explained.

Yorru frowned deeply. “You’ve seen your reflection? It’s not just a blur?”

That was a strange question, but she answered anyway. “No, it’s very clear. I’m always a different person. Strange looking people in weird clothes. Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman. Never me though. Never Korra, I mean.”

She went on to explain some of the things she had seen until a few minutes later they were interrupted by Yorru’s wife entering the room. She was always polite but she made Korra feel uncomfortable nevertheless. Her eyes held a piercing quality that always put Korra on edge.

“Oh, hello Korra,” she greeted mildly as she crossed the room to kiss Yorru on the cheek. “It was a long shift,” she said meaningfully to him.

Korra knew what that meant. Yorru’s wife worked the off shift in the propulsion rooms and she wanted Korra to leave so she could sleep in peace. Korra unfolded her legs and stood as Yorru did the same. He motioned her to head to the door and followed her.

When they were outside of the cabin Yorru set a hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry too much. The dreams began when you started going out on surveys, right?” Korra nodded. “It must be that. Space does strange things to people. Tell them to give you a break every once in awhile.” He gently elbowed her with a smile but it felt strangely false.

Korra nodded again. “Okay, I’ll try. You know they’ll never give me one though,” she said a bit ruefully.

Yorru chuckled. “I know, but maybe they can put you to work in the infirmary for a week or two. Keep you on Republic.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, maybe.”

Yorru smiled, more genuinely this time. “What does Asami think?”

Korra sputtered. “Uh—wha, I… I don’t know. W-why do you ask?” She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

“Yorru?” his wife called from within the cabin.

Yorru rolled his eyes dramatically and whispered loudly, “Saved by the _bad mood_. Lucky you.”

Korra set her teeth in an awkward grin. “I’ll have to thank her later,” she said as she started to leave.

“Bring her your melon from dinner, she’ll call it even,” Yorru called after her.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m giving up my melon, Yorru!” Korra waved and disappeared around the corner.

Yorru reentered the cabin. “P’Li?”

She stepped out from behind the door where she had obviously been waiting. “She’s having more dreams, isn’t she?”

Yorru sighed heavily. “Yes.”

P’Li set a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Zaheer, I know you like the girl but we can’t wait any longer. If things become more clear she’s going to realize it’s calling to her.”

Zaheer’s mouth set in determined line. “I know,” he said seriously. “I’ll take care of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for something completely different!
> 
> To osmrice,  
> or not to osmrice  
> that is the beta.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra tips the scales.

Korra had no idea how long she had been in love with Asami Sato; just that she was, completely and irrevocably so.

She didn’t know when it was that Asami’s smile started to make her heart beat a little faster. Or when her laugh started to make her chest swell almost to the point of bursting. Or when the sight of Asami in her cleanly pressed flight uniform started to make Korra uncomfortably sweaty.

Or when the sight of the quartermaster, Iroh, leaning over Asami’s workbench and blatantly flirting with her had started to make Korra’s jaw clench painfully.

Korra had always gotten along with Iroh. Despite being in charge of the Surveys and Acquisitions Department—or S.A.D, as Korra preferred to call it—he was never afraid to do the dirty work alongside his subordinates. He was reasonable and fair and even when they disagreed he would listen to Korra’s argument with genuine respect. Korra had no reason to hate him; he was actually a pretty good dude.

And yet here she was, pretending to listen to Baatar prattle on about minerals or whatever and fuming as she surreptitiously watched Iroh chat up Asami. Again.

“Korra?”

She couldn’t see Asami’s face, only her long, wavy hair flowing down her back while she sat at her workbench. Korra definitely had a clear view of Iroh though, leaning over Asami’s workbench with that _stupid_ smile of his.

“Korra.”

Damn Iroh and his perfect hair. Those deep, thoughtful eyes. Those carefully sculpted eyebro—

“Korra!”

“Wh- what?” Korra stammered in surprise. She schooled her face from the menacing glare she was giving Iroh back into an impassive expression. “What?”

To her left she heard Bolin snicker. She didn’t need to look to her right to know Mako was rolling his eyes.

Baatar ran a hand through his hair impatiently, leaving a cowlick sticking up awkwardly. “I was just telling your crewmates that Tug two needs to go out again immediately.”

Korra frowned. “Already? Are things that bad?”

Baatar didn’t look up from his sheet of laminate, skimming over numbers. “If you’d been listening you’d know that water is our biggest issue right now. You had a great find yesterday and it bought us another”—his eyes unfocused as he calculated—“week or so but the other tugboats haven’t been so lucky.”

“What about the transponders?” Mako asked.

Baatar sighed. “Asami is supposed to go out but Wei is sick. We’ll need to find another metalbender to go out with her.”

“I’ll go!” Korra interjected excitedly. “Er—I mean, I’ll go. Out with her. If you want.”

Baatar’s brow furrowed. “Well, I guess we could make that work if Eska will take your place in Tug two for a shift.”

Bolin paled. “Uh, I’m sorry, did you say _Eska_? Baatar, I’m sure we’d be _fine_ without a waterbender! More than fine, actually, wh-who needs waterbenders?” he said, slightly panicked.

Korra fixed Bolin with an amused smirk and put her hands on her hips. “Didn’t someone just get their ass _saved_ by a waterbender just last shift?”

“I, ugh—I _guess_ , but Baatar isn’t there _any_ one els—gah! Eska! Hi! Hello. Didn’t see you there.”

Eska had manifested herself behind Baatar and Korra doubled over in silent laughter as Eska glided past her. “Hello, Bolin.”

“Eska, excellent. Can you go out with Tug two?” Baatar asked.

Eska cast a sidelong glance at Baatar. “If I must. I suppose I will enjoy making Bolin incredibly uncomfortable while I endure this neverending tedium.”

“That’s the spirit,” Baatar said absentmindedly at the same time Bolin let out a short whimper.

“So, are we good?” Korra asked, eager to leave the awkward scene.

“I guess,” Baatar said. “Go check in with Asami and let her know about the change. We’re way behind on transponder mapping, so get moving.”

Korra bit her lip to keep from smiling and gave Baatar an exaggerated salute before spinning on a heel and hurrying away.

Asami’s desk was in surprising disarray. There were small pieces of circuitry scattered around several star charts that Asami had marked all over with math equations that Korra didn’t understand. Asami had a large pair of headphones over her head that were plugged into her console. As Korra reached her workbench Asami reached over and pressed a few buttons before resuming her complicated calculations.

Korra bent at the waist and put her mouth close to Asami’s ear before lifting one side of the headphones. “Psst! Asami!” she whispered loudly.

Asami slid off the headphones to hang around her neck but didn’t look up from her equations. “Hi, Korra,” she greeted distractedly.

Korra moved around Asami’s chair to lean against her workbench. She folded her arms. “Whatcha up to?”

Asami scribbled down a few final numbers before she finally put her pen down. She pushed aside a few laminates as if she were looking for something. “During my last shift I got something weird, and I’m trying to figure out what it is.”

“What kind of weird?” Korra asked, lifting one of Asami’s star charts and exposing another short stack of laminates. Asami snatched the pile and pulled it towards her.

Asami pulled off her headphones and handed them to Korra. “Radio waves. Just… I have no idea what they are or where they’re coming from.”

Korra donned the headphones and for a long beat heard nothing. Then, just as she was about to take the headphones off, she heard a strange pulsing sound. She listened for a moment, but the sound was faint and hard to grasp.

She took the headphones off and handed them back to Asami. “It almost sounds like… like music?”

Asami finally looked at Korra, her eyes wide. “You hear it too! Iroh thinks I’m crazy, that it’s just radiation or something messing with the equipment.”

Korra frowned. “Even if it isn’t music, it’s too rhythmic to just be interference.”

“That’s what I said! I’m trying to figure out where it’s coming from, but it’s so sporadic that it’s hard to pinpoint.” Asami continued to talk animatedly for what must have been several minutes, but Korra was only too happy to listen. She found it endearing and really liked that Asami was comfortable enough to be enthusiastic about her work around her.

Asami seemed to realise that she was rambling, however, and stalled in her explanation of how she was trying to calculate where the radio waves were coming from. She blinked several times before she blushed bright crimson. “S-sorry. Anyway, uh, what—what are you doing here?”

Korra smiled. “Guess what?”

Asami rolled her eyes. “What, did they finally let you back into the kitchens after _the incident_?”

Korra pouted. “No, Kwong says we’ll be consumed by a supernova before that ever happens.”

Asami tilted her head. “Then what?”

“I’ll be your metalbender for this evening’s transponder launching.”

Asami looked around, as if she thought Korra was playing a trick on her and the rest of the department was in on it. “Really?”

Korra gave Asami a mock scowl. “Don’t sound so excited.”

“Oh, thank _goodness_ ,” Asami sighed with relief. “I was afraid I’d be stuck with Wei again. If he hits on me one more time I’m going to scream.”

“I’m sure Iroh’s not a fan of that either,” Korra bit out before she could stop herself.

Asami’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“Nothing,” Korra waved her off. “Ready to go?”

“Just about,” Asami said as she grabbed a small device off her workbench and walked around to the transponder perched at the corner of it. “I want to take this one too.” She snapped the piece into a panel on the side of it and then grabbed a hair band from her workbench and started to tie back her hair.

Korra hefted the transponder into her arms then raised an eyebrow when she saw that Asami had spaced out while staring at Korra’s bicep. “Lead the way,” Korra prompted.

Asami’s gaze snapped to Korra’s face before she dropped her hands from her hair and breezed past. Korra could have sworn she saw Asami’s cheeks flush again, but it could have been her imagination.

A few minutes later Korra and Asami floated out of the airlock, each with a hand on the transponder. They loaded it with the others in the rear hatch and swung inside the craft.

Asami’s spacecraft was much smaller than the tugboat Korra used to collect resources. The craft was eighty percent storage, the rear hatch being full of more than a dozen small transponders. The front of the spacecraft had a small landing at the hatch, and two cramped pilot seats.

As soon as the air pressurized Asami took off her helmet and turned to Korra, who was doing the same. “Did you talk to your mom?” Asami asked as she guided the craft out of the hangar and out into the void.

Korra grimaced. “You mean ‘did she find me?’ Yes she did. Unfortunately.”

Asami gave Korra a sympathetic smile. “Did you let her down easy?”

Korra absentmindedly tugged on one of her wolf tails, which were floating freely. “Not really. I think she’d understand me turning her down if I was saying yes to my father and becoming more politically active instead. But I’m not doing that either.” Korra sighed. “She’s convinced I’d make a good healer, and he’s convinced I’ll succeed his position on the council.”

“To be fair, you probably _would_ be a good healer and or council member,” Asami mused.

Korra smiled gratefully at Asami. “At least Izumi dropped the propulsion work ever since I started working under Iroh.”

“You poor, popular girl,” Asami teased.

Korra chuckled and smirked playfully. “And yet you get me for an entire shift! Imagine that.”

“Lucky me,” Asami said quietly as she tapped on her console a few times. “We still have a ways to go, get comfortable.”

Korra really never had any trouble being comfortable around Asami, so the next hour passed without Korra even noticing.

“Here’s probably good,” Asami announced and Korra dutifully slowed the craft before snapping her helmet into place.

Asami and Korra floated out of the craft, carefully hooking their tethers to the side of it and shuffling around to the rear.

Asami opened the hatch and pulled out the first transponder, quickly turning it on and pressing a few buttons on its panel.

“Let’s get this over with so we can head back,” Asami said as she handed Korra another transponder.

Korra accepted the transponder and, with direction from Asami, used metalbending to hurl the transponder into space at a high velocity. “What’s the rush? Gonna be late for a date?”

Asami handed Korra another transponder. “No, I’m just eager to look into that radio sig… wait, what?”

Korra threw the transponder, sending it spinning away. “What?”

“What date?”

Korra shrugged. “Oh I just assumed since Iroh was hitting on you earlier…” Korra immediately felt her face flush, and she was grateful Asami couldn’t see. Still, she braced herself, because that was a _dumb_ thing to say.

“What are you talking about?” Asami had stopped setting up the transponders. She simply stared at Korra. Or at least that’s what Korra assumed she was doing, since Korra couldn’t see Asami’s eyes through her tinted visor.

Korra sighed. “Everyone knows Iroh is completely infatuated with you.” It sounded more bitter than Korra had intended, and she grimaced.

“So?” Asami said defensively. “Who said I was into him?”

Korra regretted ever bringing it up. Why couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut? It had worked so well for so long. “I mean, no one, but c’mon Asami, no one would blame you. He’s handsome and nice and well, perfect.”

“But he’s not perfect for _me_.” Asami gesticulated with her one free hand angrily.

Korra stopped launching the transponders to look back at Asami. “He’s… not?”

“ _Fuck_ —No, Korra! How could I when-”

Asami looked down at her hands. She was clenching the side railing hard. Korra never meant to make her so angry and she felt a spike of guilt pierce her frustration.

Korra let the silence linger for a long beat before asking quietly, “When what?”

“Forget it,” Asami said shortly. She resumed pulling out the transponders and turning them on.

“When what?” Korra prompted a little more forcefully.

Asami banged her hand hard against one of the transponders and all of the lights on its console flashed. She tossed it carelessly behind her and away from them.

“Hey!” Korra shouted in objection. She reached out and caught the transponder with her bending before it drifted out too far and brought it back. All of the lights on the console were flashing randomly. “What the fuck, Asami?”

“What the _fuck_ , Korra?” Asami parroted. “You—you _know_ why I’m not interested in Iroh; I want _you_. How could I even want _any_ one else when you _even_ _exist_?”

Korra gaped and stared at Asami’s visor, as if she concentrated hard enough she could see Asami’s face. After a moment Asami visibly deflated. She looked away, back down at her gloved hands. “Shit,” she muttered, all trace of anger gone.

“Wh- what?” breathed Korra.

Asami pulled herself by the side railing and rested the front of her helmet against the side of the craft. “Oh no you didn’t know I’m so _stupid_ I thought you…”

Korra continued to stare while Asami berated herself. Asami didn’t want Iroh? Asami wanted _her?_ She couldn’t believe it. She needed to look at Asami’s face. She needed to…

Korra reached past Asami into the hatch and metalbent each one of the transponder consoles at once. They all lit up and Korra leaned back out of the way while maintaining her hold on all of the transponders before she flung them all out into the void at once.

“Wha—?” Asami exclaimed in surprise.

Korra hardly felt the strain of bending in her limbs as she shot every transponder out and away from the spacecraft in every direction. She slammed the storage hatch shut and unclipped both her and Asami from the side of the craft in a single, fluid motion. She grabbed Asami’s arm roughly, pinning it between Korra’s arm and torso.

“Korra!” Asami protested.

Korra let off a short burst of fire that was really more than she needed to return to the open hatch. Korra’s shoulder painfully clipped the door frame as she recklessly threw them both into the craft.

She and Asami both hit the opposite wall, though Korra managed to take the brunt of the force and Asami landed mostly against her. Asami disorientatedly grabbed at the hull, finding a handhold while Korra bounced off the wall and back to the hatch, where she grasped the lever and pulled the hatch shut.

With her hand still on the latch she could feel the craft vibrate as it started to pressurize the cabin. After a moment she heard the automated system’s voice in her ear. “Atmosphere at twenty percent.”

Korra turned to look at Asami, who hadn’t moved and was still clinging to the hull, watching Korra. “Korra, what’s—”

“Atmosphere at forty-five percent.”

“—going on?” Asami finished.

Korra said nothing, still unmoving. She wasn’t sure if she trusted herself to speak.

Asami’s sigh came loudly through the comms. “I’m sorry, can we just forge—”

“Atmosphere at sixty percent.”

Korra’s breath was coming so heavily she could see it fogging her visor. “No, I won’t forget— _shit_ , Asami I’m so _sorry_ —”

Asami shook her head. “No, it’s okay Korra, I get it—”

“Atmosphere at eighty percent.”

“It’s really okay but can we just—I don’t want this to come between us, you’re so important to me.”

Korra gently pushed off the latch and slowly drifted towards Asami. She flexed her hands impatiently.

“Atmosphere at ninety-five percent.”

“Asami, you’re the _most_ important thing and I just, I’m so sorry that I never told you how much I—”

“Atmosphere pressurized.”

 _Finally_. Korra’s hands flew to her helmet and clawed at her clasps before tearing the helmet off her head. Her hair tossed crazily at the action, but she couldn’t care less. She had reached Asami and as Asami undid her own clasps—slowly, _too_ slowly—she hooked her fingers into Asami’s spacesuit.

“I—” Asami couldn’t say anything else, because as soon as she was free of her helmet Korra kissed her so hard she reeled backwards against the hull. “Mmph!”

Korra placed a palm flat against the hull and grabbed onto the handrail behind Asami, keeping Asami between her and the hull. Asami’s lips were stiff against hers and she momentarily panicked but as she started to pull back and open her eyes she saw Asami’s mouth chase after hers. Asami found her, kissing her more lightly, almost gingerly before she too opened her eyes.

Korra could feel Asami’s heavy breaths intermingling with hers. “I- I’m sorry, I probably should have—”

“It’s fine,” Asami interrupted hastily. “But, um, can we…” She brought her hand to Korra’s face and trailed her gloved fingers along Korra’s jaw.

Korra nodded emphatically as she closed the distance again. “Yes. Yes we can,” she murmured just before kissing Asami again. This time Asami responded immediately, resting her arms on Korra’s shoulders and winding her fingers in her hair.

It was hesitant and gentle, more exploratory than desperate, but Korra couldn’t help but release her hold on the hull to rest both hands against the small of Asami’s back. Asami hummed against her mouth when Korra pulled her closer and it traveled down Korra’s spine. How long they floated there Korra had no idea. With her eyes closed and touching nothing but Asami she felt like she was falling and in a way they were, falling forever, clinging to each other.

Asami pulled away. “Ugh, sorry,” she muttered as she pressed her palm to one of her eyes. Korra could see tears that had collected around her eyelashes and Asami hastily wiped at them with some difficulty. Korra smiled and bent the water away, letting the tears float away. She pressed a delicate kiss to one of Asami’s eyelids and Asami sighed.

Korra wanted to tell Asami everything she was feeling. How she was so happy and excited that it felt like she would burst out of her own skin. That she wouldn’t mind never leaving this tiny spacecraft ever again if Asami would just stay with her. That she had never felt more at home than in Asami’s arms. That she loved her. That Korra loved Asami and that she was never more sure of anything in her life.

But she didn’t say those things. She was too afraid; it was too new; it was whatever other excuses Korra could come up with.

So instead they stayed the way they were, just gazing at each other with wide eyes and goofy smiles until Korra pecked Asami on the lips playfully.

Asami laughed. “What was that?”

Korra shrugged. “Just checking.”

“Checking what?”

“That I could still kiss you. That I didn’t just black out and dream all of that.”

Asami smirked. “You could still be dreaming.”

Korra curled her hands tighter around Asami’s waist and burrowed her face into the crook of Asami’s neck. “Then I hope I don’t wake up. I hope I’m in a coma.”

Korra could feel Asami’s laugh rumble through her chest. “Still, you should probably keep checking. You know, periodically. You never know.”

Korra grinned and shifted just enough to be able to kiss Asami’s jaw. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Korra could have fallen asleep, falling forever in Asami’s arms, but when Korra felt the brush of the ceiling against her back she sighed and said, “We’d better start heading back.”

“I didn’t want to be the one to say it,” Asami murmured into Korra’s hair. They released each other, though their bodies still hovered close to each other. Asami used the ceiling to spin around and pushed herself towards the front of the spacecraft, slipping easily into the pilot’s chair and strapping herself in.

Korra followed and they took off, beginning the hour long journey back to Republic. The silence was surprisingly awkward until Korra figured that if Asami could tell her how she actually felt, Korra could perhaps manage to hold Asami’s hand.

She unclipped her glove from the rest of the spacesuit and flexed her fingers. She reached a few inches—the space between them wasn’t much—over to where Asami’s hand gripped the edge of her chair and brushed her fingers against the back of Asami’s knuckles. Korra saw Asami smile out of the corner of her eye before she too unclipped her glove and met Korra’s bare hand with hers. They were both a little sweaty, but it didn’t matter.

They stayed like that, their hands linked and floating between them, for the rest of the trip back to Republic.

 

—

 

Korra couldn’t sleep. Not that that was particularly surprising to her, all things considered. She was tired, sure, but her brain was firing on all cylinders replaying her time with Asami. She regretted her pettiness regarding Iroh, but she couldn’t regret what it had led to.

They were more than an hour late in returning to Republic and Iroh wasn’t happy, but Korra couldn’t have cared less. It was all she could do to keep a straight face when they were reprimanded.

She managed to keep her grin to herself just until Asami dragged her out into the mercifully deserted hallway outside of the department and kissed her so hard that Korra saw stars.

“What was that for?” Korra asked, dazed.

“Just checking,” Asami replied cheekily. “I want to look into those weird radio waves some more, but I’ll see you later?”

“Uh-huh,” confirmed Korra, as eloquently as she could.

Asami smiled warmly. “I’ll come find you after I’m done.”

Unfortunately, Korra spent the next several hours hiding from the _extremely_ persistent metal clan, who were keen to have Korra help them with repair work. Her preoccupation meant that she ended up not seeing Asami for the rest of the Prime shift, but she figured that Asami was also wrapped up in the radio transmission and Korra decided to go to bed. She would see Asami tomorrow. There would be plenty of time. As soon as she crawled under the sheets, however, her brain just. Wouldn’t. Stop.

Wouldn’t stop with the thoughts of Asami’s lips against hers, soft and pliable and just a little shy. Wouldn’t stop with thoughts of Asami’s fingers tangled with hers, rubbing circles against the back of her hand. Wouldn’t stop with thoughts of things she hadn’t experienced yet, like what Asami’s skin would feel like under her fingertips. Like how their bodies would fit together, like what would make Asami squirm and gasp and—

“Korra?” came a voice in the darkness. Korra bolted upwards, her head narrowly missing the bed frame of the top bunk.

“Asami?” she whispered.

“Hi,” Asami breathed. Korra felt Asami’s hand find her shoulder in the darkness. Asami’s fingers followed the slope of Korra’s neck up to her jaw, where they lingered.

Korra leaned into the touch. “What are you doing here?”

“I said,” Korra heard Asami swallow thickly before continuing, “I said I would come find you.”

Korra grinned and brought her hand up to meet Asami’s. “Well, you did.”

Korra felt the bed shift as Asami sat on the edge of the bed. “I thought I’d keep you company for a while if—if that’s okay. Y’know, just in case you have another dream.”

“Oh, is _that_ why?” Korra asked teasingly as she scooted over and tugged on Asami’s hand.

Asami slid in under the covers. She was wearing shorts and her bare legs were cold against Korra’s. “It certainly wasn’t because I missed you or that I wanted to cuddle.”

“Or that you wanted to syphon off my body heat for your own use,” Korra wrapped herself around Asami’s cold body.

“Right, exactly,” Asami agreed at the same time that she pressed her freezing toes against Korra’s shins and Korra hissed in surprise but didn’t pull away.

“Did you figure out the radio waves?” Korra asked.

Asami shook her head. “Not yet. I think I know the general area where it’s coming from but we’ve never sent transponders in that direction before so I’m flying blind. The signal seems to be getting a little stronger though…”

Korra hummed. “It’s weird that it’s radio waves.”

Asami turned to look at her, despite the darkness. “What do you mean?”

“Like, isn’t it sort of strange that you were even able to pick up that signal? Why _that_ frequency?

Asami stilled for a long moment before she said quietly, “Huh. That’s an interesting point.”

Korra yawned. “I’m not just a pretty face.”

Asami nuzzled her face into Korra’s hair, “You’re that too, though.”

While earlier had been entirely new experiences, _this_ was familiar. Korra and Asami curled in on each other in a small bunk barely large enough for one and surrounded by several dozen people but in a world of their own.

“Korra?”

“Mm?” Korra hummed sleepily.

After a long stretch of seconds Asami muttered, “Nothing. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Korra was asleep before she finished slurring, “Mmk.”

 

—

 

When Korra awoke and saw nothing but a blue sky, she knew she was dreaming.

Korra sat up, disoriented. Instead of the vibrant colors she was used to seeing, she saw nothing but white. White powder in every direction, surrounding her and clinging to her clothes.

Yorru had described snow to her once, but this was the first time she’d ever seen it in her dreams. She scooped some into her palm and watched as it quickly melted away into water in her hand.

 _Her_ hand. Not another man or woman’s, but _Korra’s_. She sprung up, inspecting every inch of herself as best she could. Her limbs, her body, it all felt familiar and comfortable. She tugged on her hair; brown split ends and tangles, that was familiar too.

In all of the dreams Korra had never _once_ been herself.

She took in her surroundings. As far as her eye could see there was nothing but rolling hills of snow except—

Except for a distant pillar of blue light, so tall that Korra couldn’t see its beginning or end.

Korra shook the snow from her clothes and started walking.

The snow slowed her down; it was thick and heavy and her every footstep sank deep into its grasp. She trudged up and down steep banks of snow and did her best to avoid the chunks of ice underfoot that made her stumble. It felt like hours, though the planet’s closest star never moved. Time waited for her to reach the light.

By the time she could see her destination the novelty had really worn off and Korra figured she could go her entire life without ever seeing snow again. Mercifully, she no longer had to fight her way through it. The ground had evened out as she’d gotten closer to the light, and eventually Korra could walk with ease.

The pillar of light seemed to originate from within a small bundle of trees. But, unlike every other tree she had ever seen or dreamed of, these trees were stark white. White with gnarled branches, and growing out of the ice and snow without difficulty.

Korra felt wary, but something within her spurred her on, and she entered the bundle of trees without hesitation. The air stilled, and Korra had the distinct feeling that she was being watched.

Korra walked into a small clearing and there, in the middle, was a sphere of bright, blue light. It was mesmerizing, and Korra couldn’t help but approach it, her heart pounding within her chest.

The light shifted as she neared, a dark shadow appearing in the blue. It wavered only slightly before solidifying into a man. He had shaggy hair down to his shoulders, and a goatee. His golden eyes shone brightly.

The man gave Korra a friendly, kind smile, and she was instantly put at ease. “Korra,” he greeted.

“Wh-who are you?” Korra asked.

“My name is Wan,” he answered.

“You know my name.”

Wan nodded. “C’mon, we have to go. Raava is waiting.”

Korra glanced behind nervously. “Who’s that? Raava?”

“The spirit of light and peace. And she’s been waiting a very long time for you.” Wan’s smile grew wider.

“For me?”

“For you.” Wan extended his hand out to the edge of the blue sphere in invitation. Korra looked at his offered hand for a long moment before finally reaching out to take it. As soon as her fingers touched his, her vision was flooded with blue light, completely enveloping her and blocking out all other senses.

Then she let out a hard breath and she was back, staring at the underside of the top bunk.

Korra’s chest _ached_. It felt as if a piece of her was missing and all that was left was an open wound. She breathed heavily, taking several huge gulps of air and wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.

Korra turned her head to the left, finding Asami burrowed against her arm. Korra couldn’t help but smile, despite the feeling in her chest. She ran her hand across Asami’s cheek and across her ear. Asami hummed a little in her sleep and pressed her face to Korra’s shoulder, as if she was hiding.

Korra gently dislodged herself from Asami’s grasp and slid out of the bed. Korra would go to Yorru, explain what had happened and be back before Asami even noticed she was gone. She quickly dressed and pulled on her boots before pressing a swift kiss to Asami’s forehead—something she could really get used to—and left the bunk room.

The corridor lights were still dim, a sign that hopefully meant P’Li would still be working and Korra wouldn’t have to be worried about inviting herself over for the second time in two days.

Strangely, the door didn’t swing open when Korra approached. She wondered if she should turn around—Yorru could still be asleep.

She knocked anyway. Yorru had never minded Korra’s rudeness.

Except that it was P’Li that opened the door. “Korra?” she said groggily.

Korra paled slightly and set her teeth awkwardly. “Oh I’m sorry P’Li, I was—”

“Looking for Yorru?” P’Li guessed with an amicable smile.

“Heh, yeah.”

“He isn’t here but is everything alright?” P’Li asked around a yawn.

Korra was a little startled, P’Li never seemed to care about Korra in the slightest. “Y-yeah. Fine. Just had a weird dream.”

P’Li’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “Another?”

“Oh… did Yorru tell you?”

P’Li looked embarrassed, as if she’d been caught in an act. “Yes, he did. He was worried about you.”

Korra shrugged. “It's fine, I don't mind. Yeah, it was another one of those dreams, except this time I saw someone and there was this light and—well, it doesn’t really matter.”

P’Li stared at Korra, all exhaustion gone from her features, and Korra forced herself not to flinch. After a long moment P’Li glanced past Korra, back down the hall before narrowing her eyes and letting out a long breath. “I’m sorry, Korra.”

Then she attacked.

P’Li punched rapidly, fireballs blasting from her hand in quick succession. Korra managed to dodge the first one, despite her surprise, but the second singed her arm painfully.

P’Li didn’t let up, twirling and kicking out a stream of fire from her foot. Korra moved her arms in a wide circle, dissipating the fire around her. “Wha— _what are you doing_?” Korra cried.

A smirk tugged at the corners of P’Li’s mouth, and as Korra backed away she had to wonder if P’Li was enjoying this. Korra gritted her teeth and tore several metal panels off the corridor walls, hurling them at P’Li like huge blades before taking off down the hall.

Korra considered screaming for help, but they were so far from the rest of Republic’s citizens she really doubted anyone would hear her.

Korra felt a searing heat wrap around her boot, and smelled burnt leather a moment before she was brought down painfully. She rolled to the side, successfully avoiding the second lashing by P’Li’s fire whip before spinning up back onto her feet.

P’Li was barreling down the corridor, bombing Korra with fireballs. Korra blocked what she could, but was quickly becoming overwhelmed. She backed up against a door to her right and slammed her hand down on the button next to it. The door slid open and Korra rolled in, narrowly dodging several more blasts.

Instead of bothering with the button, she let out a long grunt and wrenched the door shut with metalbending. She heard a long bang against the door and felt the metal grow warm, but it held.

Korra, much to her relief, found herself in the Escape Pod Bay. It wasn’t _ideal_ , since there were no other exits except for the one that P’Li was currently trying to melt, but at least she had a way out.

The bay was huge, with long rows of the circular escape pods lining the top of the walls. They were large, designed to fit entire families in case a catastrophe befell Republic. In school they had run practice drills with them, but as far as she knew no one had ever actually used one.

Each pod had a radio though, and that was all she really needed. She ran to the console. “Okay Korra,” she muttered. “Step one, unlock launch track.”

There was one massive bay door that separated the escape pods and the airlock. Along the floor in front of it was the launch track, the device that sent the pods moved along before being fired out of the airlock. Each pod had to be lowered from the ceiling and loaded onto the launch track. Korra wished she had paid better attention during the escape pod drills.

Korra heard a loud bang come from the door, as if P’Li had leveled a kick at it. She could see the metal of the door warping and glowing red under her constant onslaught. Korra turned back to the console. “You can do this,” she whispered with as much conviction as she could muster, which really wasn’t much.

Korra pressed a few more buttons and heard a loud ‘click’ come from the launch track. “Yes!” she shouted with a grin. “Okay, step two. Step two is… select escape pod. Yeah. Uh, uh, how about eight? That’s my lucky number. Is there an eight?” Korra pressed the console forcefully, and behind her, one of the escape pods started to move. “Ha ha!”

Korra chanced a glance at the door, and saw that it was no longer glowing. There was no persistent pounding either, curiously. She cautiously approached the door and as she neared she could hear the sounds of an argument. Korra’s heart soared, maybe she was saved! She pressed her ear to the door, straining to hear the words being said.

Just then, the argument stopped. There was nothing but silence for a brief moment before something hit the door so hard that Korra stumbled backwards. The onslaught resumed, this time a thousand times worse. Korra swore and rushed back to the console as escape pod eight settled into position overhead.

“Step three! _What’s step three?_ ” Korra said desperately as she scanned the console screen. “Prime… Prime the escape pod. I can do that, no problem.” She tapped a few buttons and the escape pod began to lower.

She ran to the escape pod just as it locked into place. The hatch slid open and Korra ducked inside. She ran her fingers past the ancient spacesuits folded into cubbies along the wall until she found the radio. She picked up the receiver just as the metal door exploded inwards. “Fuck.”

Korra let the receiver dangle on its cord and readied to defend herself. As soon as she moved to the pod hatch, however, she saw not P’Li, but Yorru. He had shaved his beard and his hair, but it was definitely him.

“Korra!” he shouted. Something within Korra’s stomach dropped. She had never heard him raise his voice before.

Korra ducked back out of the pod. “Yorru! Thank goodness, something’s wrong with P’Li!”

Once Korra exited the pod she could see that P’Li was standing off to the side with her arms crossed and a frown across her face. “Yorru?” Korra said hesitantly.

Yorru looked sad and defeated. “I’m sorry, Korra. I wish there was another way.”

“Wha—”

Yorru swept his arms in a wide circle, taking on a stance Korra had never seen before. She could feel the air around her shift and move towards him fluidly right before all of that air hit her square in the chest and she was thrown backwards.

Her head slammed against the edge of the hatch of the escape pod, and she saw her own blood spray just seconds before she was lost in a sea of black.

 

—

 

Zaheer sighed. “That’s not how I wanted that to go.”

“I know,” P’Li said as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But it had to be done. I panicked when I realized how close she was to the truth.”

“I wasn’t supposed to kill her…” Zaheer ran a hand over his bald head. Korra’s body laid crumpled in the escape pod, blood pooling around her head.

“It was going to happen eventually anyway.” P’Li walked over to the console and pressed a few buttons. “We have to get rid of the body.”

Zaheer couldn’t deny either point, regardless of how cold P’Li was being. Korra had been a good kid, a decent person. It really was too bad that it had come to this. Perhaps the next one would be born on Earth and the rest of the Red Lotus would have better luck than he did.

The escape pod hatch slid shut, and the bay door opened. The escape pod moved onto the airlock along the launch track, and P’Li closed the bay door again. Then she cranked the speed of the jettison as high as it would go.

“Sorry, kid,” Zaheer muttered as P’Li pressed ‘launch’ on the console, sending the escape pod hurtling out into space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> osmrice, be-tas in dis-guise
> 
> Transponders are signal receivers and emitters. Republic evaluates the distances between the transponders, trying to find objects that could possibly be mined for resources.
> 
> Republic operates on two main shifts. Prime shift, which the majority of people work, and the Auxiliary Shift. Korra and the Krew work Prime shift.
> 
> I did a couple of prompts over on [Tumblr](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/post/142649808945/heyo-here-are-all-the-prompts-from-this-past) this weekend if that's a thing you're interested in. Two are headcanons and one is from my other fic, Company.
> 
> Thank you for all the encouragement! I ~~am~~ was super anxious about posting this fic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami wakes up.

_Asami had never seen Lin so angry._

_Neither had Korra, if the explosive curse she loosed when they exited the airlock was anything to go by._

_In hindsight, maybe stealing a tugboat and going out for an hour long joy ride had not been the brightest of ideas, but Korra was_ extremely _persuasive and well, Asami had been bored._

_Asami thought that the handcuffs were a bit much, but she definitely didn’t say so as Lin marched Asami, Korra, Mako and Bolin single file down the corridor. Korra was in front, next to Lin, which was probably a strategic move on Lin’s part._

_Korra jingled her handcuffs when she lifted her arms and gave Lin a sidelong look. “You know I could just bend out of these, right?”_

_Lin didn’t answer, but Asami presumed that she was aware. Actually, every soul on Republic was probably aware that Korra had learned how to metalbend given how quickly she had taken to it._

_“Because I could. Bend out of these. If I wanted,” Korra continued, as if she couldn’t feel the exasperation coming off Lin in waves._

_Asami was quite sure she could though. But she was also quite sure Korra didn’t care._

_“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you have some place better to be?” Lin asked, sarcasm dripping from every word._

_“As a matter of fact, I do. I hear that getting sucked into a black hole is lovely this time of year. Weren’t you just telling me that, Asami?” Korra twisted a little to look back at Asami with a cheeky grin. Korra’s hands were now hidden from Lin’s view for the briefest of moments and Asami caught an almost imperceptible twitch just as she felt her handcuffs loosen._

_Dammit, Korra._

_Korra snapped back around to look at Lin. “Though I’m sure that Republic’s security office has better coffee.”_

_Asami slowly turned to look behind her and saw Bolin holding his handcuffs in his hand, rubbing his wrists. Mako leaned forward and hissed, “Bro! Put them back on!”_

_Bolin sent a panicked look at Lin’s back and whipped his handcuffs back into place just in time for Lin to turn around and bark, “Sato! Eyes front!”_

_Asami whirled back around and met Lin’s eye. Behind Lin though, Asami could see Korra, handcuffs still firmly in place, frantically signalling to the right. Asami followed her motion and saw that they were going to pass the corridor to the political wing of Republic. Asami wanted to shake her head in refusal, but Lin was still glaring at her._

_Korra lowered her hands just as Lin turned around. Asami didn’t look back but she knew Bolin and Mako had seen Korra’s signal and were probably getting ready to bolt._

_When they reached the juncture, Korra loudly asked, “So Chief, seeing anybody lately? How’s your love life?”_

_Korra, you_ absolute idiot _._

_Her question had the desired effect though, and while Lin was busy yelling at Korra, Mako dragged Asami down the political wing corridor._

_Asami could hear Lin shouting the entire time they silently jogged away._

_It would be two days before Asami saw Korra again, wearily stalking down the corridor in the red overalls of the propulsion room. “Korra!” Asami shouted, her next class forgotten_ — _calculus,_ such _a loss. “Where have you been?”_

_Korra pulled off her large, tinted goggles, leaving behind a stark outline against her greasy, soot covered skin. “I’ll bet you can guess,” she said with a smirk. “Come on, I’m running late.” She started down the corridor again without waiting._

_“So what happened?” Asami asked, jogging a few steps to walk alongside Korra._

_“With what?” Korra asked innocently._

_Asami rolled her eyes. “With Lin, obviously!”_

_Korra led Asami into the showers and threw her duffle bag down on a bench along the wall. She started to unzip her overalls and Asami was sure that the humidity was to blame for how hot she felt all of a sudden._

_“Oh, well, she was furious,” Korra said nonchalantly as she stepped out of her overalls. Asami let her eyes trail over Korra’s back—just until Korra started to pull her bra off and Asami forced herself to avert her gaze. Korra continued, oblivious to Asami’s misery. “But she knew I had ‘orchestrated the whole fiasco’ or whatever so she wasn’t too upset about losing track of you guys.”_

_“Really? That seems unlike her.”_

_Korra turned around to look at Asami as she stepped under the water and Asami stared back into Korra’s eyes and_ absolutely nowhere else _. “She was more than happy to take the opportunity to give me your guys’ punishment shifts, anyway.”_

_“Oh, Korra…” Asami breathed._

_“It’s no big deal,” Korra said, her voice distorted by the water as she rinsed her hair out. “It was worth it to see Lin’s face when she realized what had happened.”_

_Asami walked over to the towel locker and dug around until she was satisfied that she had found the biggest, fluffiest towel. Korra shut the water off and accepted the towel with a thankful nod while Asami examined a particularly fascinating spot on the ceiling._

_“So that’s what you were doing in the propulsion room?” Asami asked as Korra opened her duffle bag and started to change into clean clothes. “Doing Mako’s punishment shift?”_

_“Yeah, and mine too. Double shift.”_

_“Holy shit Korra, how mad_ was _Lin?” Asami’s eyes found Korra, now mercifully clothed. No wonder she looked so tired. Asami watched Korra tie up her wet hair._

 _Korra gave Asami a crooked smile._ "Mad."  
  
_Asami followed Korra back out into the corridor. “Do you want to grab some dinner or are you going to bed early?”_

_“Can’t.” Korra glanced at the clock on the corridor wall and started to pick up the pace. Asami hurried to keep up. “I have your shift next.”_

_“_ Seriously _? You don’t get a break at all?” Asami asked._

_“I get to sleep after this shift, and then I have Bolin’s punishment shift in the gardens. That’s an easy one though, Opal won’t be too hard on me.”_

_Asami snickered. “If he finds out his punishment shift would have been with Opal he’ll be mad you took it from him.”_

_Korra laughed. “Yeah, probably.”_

_They passed the galley before Asami thought to ask, “Wait, so what’s my punishment shift?”_

_“The day care,” Korra said happily just as they arrived to the glass doors that led into the huge, carpeted room full of children. “See you later?” Korra asked as she pushed open one of the doors._

_“Korra,” Asami reached out for Korra’s arm and Korra paused at the threshold._

_“Yeah?”_

_Asami threw her arms around Korra’s neck, breathing in gulps of Korra’s shampoo and clean clothes. Korra’s wet hair stuck to Asami’s cheek. “Thank you.”_

_Korra hugged her for what Asami thought was far too short a time before letting go and giving her a grin. “Anytime, Asami.”_

_Korra threw open the door and suddenly there was a shouting chorus of, “Korra!” The door closed and Asami watched Korra throw her duffle bag down before running headlong into the crowd of children clamoring for her. Asami could hear Korra shouting something, but it was muffled through the door._

_Asami couldn’t help but linger, watching Korra get swallowed by a mob of children, a huge smile plastered all over her face._  
  


—  
  


Asami was dreaming. She had to be. It was the only explanation.

The rough hand on her shoulder, shaking her. Telling her that there was an emergency check-in ordered; that she had better go.

The hurried flight from Korra’s bunk room to her own. Dressing in her uniform automatically.

The bustling corridors, filled with people trying to get to their respective departments, all just as confused and flustered as Asami was.

There were murmurs, something about a fight, perhaps someone had been killed. It seemed ridiculous.

It wasn’t until Asami made it to the Surveys and Acquisitions Department that she first heard the words ‘escape’ and ‘pod.’ A group of people were whispering quietly to themselves as she passed. She didn’t think much of it; it sounded like rumor and gossip and Asami had neither the time or patience for it.

Mako and Bolin were already there, leaning against the wall close to the doorway and looking haggard. “Hey, Asami,” Bolin greeted though a yawn.

Asami fought a mirroring yawn. “Hey guys. What’s going on?”

Mako shrugged, his eyes never leaving the coffee cup between his hands. “No idea. Didn’t we just do a check-in last week?”

Asami surveyed the room, watching as a stream of equally somnolent coworkers filed through the door. “Something must have happened, we shouldn’t be having another so soon.”

Bolin stretched his arms out wide with a loud pop and a satisfied groan. “Where’s Korra?”

Asami froze. She had been in such a haze this morning that it hadn’t even occurred to her that Korra should have been with her. Asami should have woken up in Korra’s arms, kissed her softly and dragged her reluctantly out of bed. They should have walked to the department together and traded shy smiles and stolen kisses throughout their shift. That’s what should have happened.

The fact that it hadn’t didn’t make any sense.

“Alright everybody, let’s get this over with,” Iroh announced disinterestedly as he walked into the department, his hair unusually disheveled. “I don’t have to be back here for another three hours so if we could get a move on so I can go back to bed that’d be great.”

Everyone in the department formed a misshapen circle around Iroh, except for Asami and the boys, who remained against the wall. “Uh oh,” Bolin muttered. “Iroh’s gonna be really mad if Korra holds him up.” Asami cast frequent glances at the door while Iroh recited each of their names off the list, but Korra never showed. Every moment that ticked by made Asami’s scowl deepen.

“Bolin,” Iroh rattled off.

“Yaaah,” Bolin moaned at the tail end of another yawn.

“Wing, Wei,” Iroh continued as Asami spaced out, still staring at the doorway. Why had Korra left that morning? Why hadn’t she woken Asami when she did? Why did Asami have such a terrible feeling crawling up the back of her neck?

_Where was Korra?_

“Korra?”

Asami’s eyes whipped away from the door.

“Korra…?” Iroh repeated. Asami _knew_ Korra wasn’t here, but still her stomach soured.

“Iroh,” Asami interrupted.

Iroh, startled, searched the crowd until he found Asami with his eyes. “Yes, Asami?”

“I’m here,” Asami stated flatly before striding out of the room without a second look.

Asami hadn’t been to Korra’s parents’ quarters in a few years, but the route was almost second nature to her given how often she’d visited Korra when they were young. It was two lefts and a right from the council chambers, and she hardly noticed her feet taking her there.

“Asami?” Senna’s brow briefly furrowed in confusion before her expression brightened. “My goodness, how are you? I haven’t seen you in ages, dear.”

Senna enveloped Asami in a tight, motherly hug and Asami found herself leaning gratefully into Senna’s arms. “I’m well, how are you?” Asami asked politely when she was released.

Senna started to walk back inside the cabin, waving for Asami to follow her. “Fine, fine. How’s your father?”

Senna and Councilman Tonraq’s cabin was one of the more comfortable on Republic, much like Asami’s father’s own. To the right was a small kitchen, divided from the living room by a long counter. Asami remembered that once Korra had leapt over the counter in her hurry to return to a game they were playing and was left with a thin scar on her thigh for her trouble.

Asami trailed into the kitchen after Senna. “He’s fine thank you, but I was actually looking for Korra.”

“Korra?” Senna asked as she opened a cabinet and rummaged inside. “Why? Was she supposed to be here?” She shut the cabinet, a teapot in her hand. “Tea?”

“N-no thank you.” Asami shook her head. “I just haven’t seen her since yesterday and I was hoping she would be here.”

Senna set the kettle down with a frown. “No… I haven’t seen her in a few days.”

Asami heard a dry chuckle as Tonraq walked out of a side room and into the living room. “She’s avoiding us,” he said with a good natured smile. He walked into the kitchen and clapped an arm on Asami’s shoulder. “Tell her I won’t mention the council if she stops by for dinner tonight. You’re welcome too, of course. That’ll give her a reason to come,” he grinned as he slipped an arm past Senna, snagging a cookie from a plate on the counter and darting back out of the kitchen.

“Tonraq…” Senna chided him. “Don’t mind him,” she told Asami.

“Korra wasn’t at the check-in with you?” Tonraq asked, his mouth full of cookie. “Maybe she was out on a survey.”

Asami frowned. “No, Mako and Bolin were both there. And she would have told me…” Asami trailed off, thinking.

Senna raised a questioning eyebrow. “Did something happen?”

Asami’s jaw snapped shut in surprise. “I—uh,” She willed the blush that was crawling up her neck to just— _go away_. “No? No, of course not.”

“Oh, Asami, did you finally tell her?” Senna clasped both her hands around Asami’s elbows. “Is that what happened?”

“Wha—” Asami looked very deliberately at the floor. “What do you mean? Tell her… tell her what?”

Senna’s eyes narrowed as Tonraq chortled in the living room. “Asami, _everyone_ knows. Well, everyone except Korra. We’ve known since you were what, fourteen?”

“Twelve,” Senna corrected.

“Er—” Asami was mercifully interrupted by a firm knock.

Tonraq walked past them and answered the door, the smile fading from his face when he saw Lin on the other side. “Lin? What are you doing here?”

“Tonraq,” Lin said seriously before casting a glance down the corridor. “Something has happened. Can I come in?”

Tonraq stepped aside wordlessly and Lin marched in, her back ramrod straight as always.

“Does this have something to do with Korra not checking in?” Asami blurted as Lin passed the kitchen.

Lin’s eyes widened when she saw Asami standing in the kitchen alongside Senna. “Oh, Asami. You’re… here.” She turned to Senna. “Perhaps we should speak alone?”

When Senna glanced at her Asami thought she saw a flicker of fear before she turned back to Lin and firmly stated, “Asami’s not going anywhere.”

“Suit yourself,” Lin said and continued into the living room, Tonraq right behind her.

Asami was grateful that Senna had wanted her to stay, but she couldn’t help the feeling that she should leave—put off hearing whatever it was Lin had come to tell them. She grasped Senna’s hand without hesitation, however, and led her into the living room.

Tonraq motioned to a chair but Lin shook her head. “I’d rather stand, if you don’t mind.”

Senna sat on the couch, and Asami followed her. Tonraq chose a chair that was clearly _his_ , worn and old and comfortable looking.

Lin suddenly looked more tired than Asami had ever seen her. It made Asami’s chest tighten and her throat close up, as dread settled more firmly in her stomach.

“Korra’s missing,” Lin stated without preamble. Asami noticed Tonraq’s massive hands grip the armrests of his chair.

“A few hours ago one of the escape pods in bay four jettisoned, and Korra is the only person on Republic who didn’t check in.”

There was a long beat of silence. Asami would have thought that her heart had stopped beating, if she couldn’t hear her blood rushing to her ears.

“Also,” Lin awkwardly barrelled on, “there seems to have been some sort of attack. The hallway outside of the bay was a complete mess. Several metal panels were ripped off the walls, and the door to the bay is mangled beyond repair. It would have taken a very… _talented_ metalbender—”

“So you think that Korra got into an escape pod and jettisoned herself? Why would she do that and then not radio for help?” Tonraq, panic coloring the edges of his voice.

Lin looked more sorrowful and continued, “That isn’t all. There was blood found, right by the launch track. Not a _lot_ , but just the same… whoever was jettisoned, they were injured. I have no idea how badly.”

Asami couldn’t be sure that the loud sob that echoed throughout the chamber wasn’t ripped from her own throat until Tonraq was at her side, holding a shaking Senna.

There was bile in Asami’s throat and fire in her chest. She could feel the rotation of Republic in her feet and in her head and she gripped the couch for support while her vision spun.

Not Korra. How could it be Korra? She was in bed with Asami last night—safe. She wasn’t anywhere _near_ escape pod bay four. She was in Asami’s arms. She was whispering quietly against Asami’s mouth and they had had _time_. Finally, after everything, they had had time. Asami was going to tell her—

Asami was going to tell Korra everything. But she didn’t.

Asami could feel her eyes welling up and she tilted her chin up slightly, as if it would keep the tears from spilling and becoming real. Asami’s fingernails dug into her itchy palm. Lin was still standing awkwardly, looking anywhere but at the grieving couple next to Asami. “Lin,” Asami said as she stood. “Where is the escape pod?”

Lin’s eyebrows pinched together and she sagged slightly as she said quietly, “The monitoring crew doesn’t know.” Lin glanced behind Asami, presumably at Tonraq and Senna before continuing. “They didn’t report the jettison for _hours_. They thought it was a false alarm.”

“Then what _do_ they know?” Asami almost snarled.

“The time the pod was released, but hardly anything beyond that, the useless clods,” Lin said coldly.

“I’m going to go pay them a visit.” Asami crossed her arms as if daring Lin to challenge her.

“Asami I know you’re upse—”

“I’m going to find her,” Asami announced loudly without looking away from Lin. Lin’s eyes widened the barest amount before her eyes flickered back to the couch.

Asami heard Senna’s wails quiet into shallow hiccups before she squeaked, “W-what?”

Asami turned around and repeated firmly, “I’m going to _find_ her, I promise.” She gave Lin a hard look. “And when I do, I’ll go out and get her _myself_ if I have to.” Without another word Asami marched out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her.

The slam hadn’t even finished echoing down the corridor before Asami’s resolve left her and she sagged against the bulkhead. A few unbidden tears fell freely before Asami hastily wiped them away. Not yet. Korra wasn’t dead yet. Asami could and _would_ save her.

Or at least, bring her body home.

The door to the cabin opened again before Asami could dwell on the thought, and she straightened against the bulkhead. Lin shut the door gently behind her and turned to Asami with a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Asami,” she started.

“Save it, Lin. I know what you’re going to say.”

Lin waved her off. “It was hours ago. I know you cared— _care_ about her. We all care about her. But she’s _gone_.” Lin looked so truly broken hearted that Asami realized that Lin really _did_ care about Korra, despite all their run ins.

Asami softened slightly and pushed herself off the hull wearily. “She’s not gone yet, she could be out there and we’re just standing here talking. Tell the monitoring crew I’m coming. _Please_.”

After a long moment of silence Lin finally nodded. “Fine. I’ll tell the flight deck you have clearance.”

Asami sighed in relief. “Thank you.” She started down the corridor immediately.

“Asami,” Lin called softly. Asami looked over her shoulder at Lin, but didn’t stop her brisk pace. “Good luck.”

Asami nodded once before she disappeared around the corner and broke into a run.  
  


—  
  


Korra was dreaming. That was the only explanation. It was the only way this made any sense at all.

It was _bright_. So bright, Korra could hardly keep her eyes open. Light streamed through from somewhere above her, and when she tried to lift her arms to block the light she found she could hardly move her arms at all. They felt like lead.

Korra raised her head and it gave an angry throb that rippled through her limbs. She could hear her breaths coming in ragged gulps, and she vaguely registered that she was wearing a spacesuit.

As her eyes adjusted to the light she realized that her arms were tangled in the straps of one of the seats. It took several moments of frantic, awkward wiggling to get free, but Korra managed it despite the weight in her arms and the fog in her head.

Korra shifted to keep the harsh light from her eyes and took in her surroundings. She recognized that she was in an escape pod, but it wasn’t until she saw the splatters of blood sprayed all over the hull, the seats, even the hatch above her that she remembered what had happened.

P’Li. The escape pod bay. The way Yorru had attacked her; the way the air had hit her. The darkness.

Waking up to an intolerable klaxon blaring and a red light flashing ominously. Managing to pull on a space suit and helmet, despite the blood on her fingers. Trying to strap herself into one of the seats, but the darkness finding her again before she’d managed it.

She supposed she was grateful that her arms had tangled in the straps, and that the straps hadn’t ripped all the way through as her body ragdolled inside of the pod. She very slowly shifted to her knees, then forced herself to stand. Every inch of her felt incredibly heavy, as if she was made of metal.

Korra swayed unsteadily and groped at the seat. The seat which was _wrong_. She blinked a few times as she looked at it. The chair was oriented sideways as if—oh. Korra was standing on the wall.

“Shit.” Korra looked up at the column of light coming from the only port in the escape pod—the one embedded in the escape pod hatch. The hatch that was several meters above her. Along the hull next to the hatch was a long gash in the escape pod, which meant that the air pressure inside was non-existent.

Korra tried to squint and see out of the port, but it was too bright. She would have to blow open the airlock without knowing what was outside. That sucked, but it was that or die in the escape pod, so opening the hatch, blind or not, was pretty appealing. She just had to reach the airlock lever.

So like an idiot, Korra jumped.

Korra had hardly made it a foot off the ground before she came crashing back down. Her legs buckled under the surprising weight and she pitched forward, cracking her helmet against the hull. Her face smacked the visor of her helmet, leaving a streak of blood and spit across it and making her teeth reverberate in her skull. “Aarrgh, _fuck_.”

There was a gentle hiss as air rushed out of a newly formed crack in the corner of her visor. Korra brought her hand to her helmet, uselessly trying to cover the rift.

Well, she didn’t _immediately_ die, so that was nice. Korra considered what few options she had. Try to switch her helmet with another and hope that whatever atmosphere around her was enough to keep her alive, try to find something to seal the crack, or die slowly and painfully inside of her suit.

Option three wasn’t her _favorite_ , and option two seemed unlikely, considering that Korra was in an escape pod without many supplies. So option one it was.

Korra could hardly see because of the blood inside her helmet, so she was forced to slowly grope her way along the hull towards the space suit cubbies. By the time she made it there, however, her oxygen had run out. Her tank kindly reminded her of her imminent demise with a final, weak exhale before shutting off completely.

And yet, Korra wasn’t dead.

Korra pried off her cracked helmet and took an experimental, shallow breath. It… felt okay. Her eyes didn’t swell up like balloons or explode out of her face or any of the other gruesome possibilities Mako could wax poetic about. She didn’t die, not even a little. Awesome.

Korra tossed her helmet carelessly behind her and it bounced off the hull and rolled some distance away. Now, to get out of the pod.

Korra lifted an arm and metalbent the airlock latch, pulling it out and away from the hull. It creaked loudly and there was a loud hiss as the seal around the door was broken. Then, a loud ‘pop’ as the hatch exploded outwards, propelled away from the escape pod. The door went soaring away, out of sight.

All Korra saw outside of the escape pod was blue. It reminded her of… but no, it couldn’t be.

Korra returned to the straps, which were hanging onto the seat by mere threads. She tore the straps the rest of the way off until she was left with just a harness and a metal buckle.

Korra slid out of her useless space suit and stretched her weary limbs with a sigh. She threw the strap and metalbent the metal buckle around a protruding railing by the open hatch.

Korra had always thought that she was pretty strong. She exercised often and worked hard, and it showed. She had powerful arms and legs and was proud of that. Now, however, it didn’t seem like enough. Her arms burned with the effort of pulling herself up the length of the harness. Even jumping and grabbing onto the harness had taken a larger effort than she’d anticipated. She was honestly beginning to wonder if she was going to make it.

But then she did, hoisting herself out of the hatch and sprawling on top of the escape pod. She rolled onto her back and stared up; up at the blue sky that looked like the one she’d seen so many times and she wondered, not for the first time, if she really _was_ dreaming.

Korra sat up, ignoring her body’s weak protests and felt her breath catch in her throat. In all the times she had dreamt of this place, this _planet_ , never had it been so beautiful.

Korra hadn’t known this many colors even _existed_. She was in a wide, expansive field, plants and flowers dotting the grass. To her left were trees, as tall as Yorru had described the ones on Earth, and a lot of them were bent and cracked, as if something had smashed into them.

Oh, right.

Korra had crashed in an escape pod onto a strange planet. It could be abandoned. It could be inhabited, she had no idea. All she knew was that she was alone—for the moment at least—and marooned.

Korra pinched her eyes shut. She couldn’t think with the sudden appearance of everything new around her. The color, the vastness, it was overwhelming. She concentrated on breathing and not panicking. “Don’t freak out, Korra.” She sucked in a huge lungful of air. “Don’t freak out.” She let out a long, shaky breath. “Don’t fr—okay, you’re freaking out a little, calm—calm down.”

Korra couldn’t seem to get enough air into her lungs, and she couldn’t help but imagine the horrible death that awaited her if the air actually was poisonous and only now was it killing her. Korra took several shallow, anxious breaths.

“Nope, don’t think about the poison that’s obviously already in your bloodstream.” Korra made a face. “Wow okay, _Mako_. Focus. Focus on something else. You’re not dying, you’re just overreacting. Breathe. Breathe. Think about—think about Asami…”

Think about Asami. Korra had no idea how long it had been since the attack, but it felt like an eternity had passed since Korra had slipped out from under her sheets and left Asami behind.

Asami, _Asami_.

Asami, at her desk, fully engrossed in a problem and chalk streaks in her hair from when she would forget about the dust on her fingers.

Asami, coaxing Korra into her bed when Korra had a dream, her fingers rubbing soothing circles between Korra’s shoulder blades.

Asami, laughing gleefully while pushing her tiny spacecraft to its limits, making it do maneuvers it was never designed to do.

Asami, kissing Korra back with a desperation that took Korra’s breath away and left her wanting more.

Korra had to get back to her. Korra had to contact Republic. She only hoped someone was listening.

Korra leaned back into the escape pod, her hands on either side of the hatch. The escape pod radio was close to the hatch, but not close enough for her to reach from where she was. Great.

Korra carefully lowered herself back through the hatch, her arms screaming in protest. She looped her feet through the harness and _slowly_ settled her weight on it once again. It creaked ominously, but held.

Against her better judgment Korra started to swing herself back and forth. The harness creaked with every pass. Once she’d gotten enough momentum to reach the radio, she grabbed onto the side of the console, keeping herself from swinging backwards. Korra managed to wrap her fingers around the receiver and pulled it from its hook. She tucked it between her shoulder and ear so that she could punch the radio buttons with her free hand. No matter what she did though, there was nothing but static on the other end. “Piece of shit, _work_!”

Korra slammed her hand against the radio repeatedly. “Stupid.” Bang. “Hunk.” Bang. “Of.” Bang. _“Junk!”_

 _“Hello!”_ greeted a loud, mechanical voice from the radio.

“Wha—!” Korra jerked in surprise and lost her grip on the radio. She swung backwards fast and at the apex of her swing the harness finally broke under the strain. For a split moment it felt as if Korra was back in Asami’s spacecraft, floating freely with her. That is, until she fell straight down, flopping painfully onto the sideways seats. Korra let out a broken half groan, half sob.

 _“Welcome to Varrick Galactic Industries’ Luxury Escape Capsule! My name is Varrick and I’ll be your host for this evening’s spontaneous jettison_. _”_

Korra rubbed her head and sat up stiffly. “Luxury…?”

 _“Our sensors indicate that you have—_ Crash. Landed— _If this is the case, congratulations! You have survived!”_

“Gee, thanks,” Korra muttered darkly.

_“Please wait until I have turned off the fasten seatbelt sign. This will be your one and only indication that it is safe to move about the cabin. Varrick Galactic Industries is not responsible for any injury, dismemberment or death that may occur inside of a Luxury Escape Capsule!”_

“What the hell is this?” Korra asked nobody.

 _“Anyway, now that all of_ booooring _legal stuff is out of the way, let’s look to the future! Specifically, how you are going to not-die.”_

Korra put her hands over her ears and moaned, “Whyyy?”

_“You might be asking yourself, ‘why me?’ Well let me tell you friend, I didn’t ask to be a genius, but I am. And you didn’t ask to be an escapee—but you are! So buck up, kiddo!”_

Korra laughed humorlessly and let her eyes fall closed.

 _“Our sensors indicate that the atmosphere is—_ Seventy. Eight. Point. Zero. Nine. Percent. Nitrogen. Twenty. Point. Nine. Five. Percent. Oxygen. Point. Nine. Three. Percent. Argon. Point. Three. Nine. Carbon. Dioxide— _which means that this planet is… drum roll please!_ —Hospitable— _Please note that Varrick Galactic Industries does not guarantee one hundred percent accuracy in the event of catastrophic lung failure.”_

“Oh good, I’m not dying. Good.” Korra cracked her heavy eyes open.

_“If I just said ‘hospitable’, please say ‘one’. If I just said ‘deadly’, please say ‘two’. If I just said—”_

“O-one!” Korra shouted.

 _“You have—_ Shouted— _‘one’. If this is correct, please say ‘one’. If this is incorr—”_

“You have gotta be kidding—One! _One!_ ” Korra repeated impatiently.

_“Great! If you would kindly direct your attention to the cubbies you will find your very own Premium Varrick Galactic Not-Dying Kits!”_

Korra lifted her head, suddenly interested.

 _“Within you will find—_ Two— _canisters of water,_ —Four— _nutrient rich meals, fresh from our factory and packaged with love and_ —One— _medical pack_. _”_

Korra jumped to her feet and stumbled over to the cubbies along the wall, choosing one and tearing past the spacesuit inside in search of the kit.

 _“You’ll also find your very own Nuktuk Hero of the South Stretch Action Figure! Product not for consumption_. _”_

Korra located the small, padded red package at the back of the cubbie and unzipped it eagerly. A small, soft action figure rolled out of the package and gave a feeble squeak as it hit the hull. More importantly, two water canisters also tumbled out and Korra snatched one up immediately.

The water was lukewarm and tasted like metal, but Korra was pretty sure she had never tasted anything so phenomenal. She drained one canister in an instant before cracking open the other, chugging half of it before pouring the rest all over her face and hands. Korra noticed the tint of red to the water as it splashed against the white hull.

_“We hope you enjoy your stay in Varrick Galactic Industries’ Luxury Escape Capsule! Aaand to make sure that happens, we have provided entertainment! So sit back, relax, and hope someone rescues you as you enjoy our latest, and dare I say daringest, mover yet! Nuktuk: Hero of the South… In Space The Musical! And as always, we know you have a choice of escape pods when you jettison yourself into space, and we thank you for choosing to escape the Varrick way!”_

The radio clicked loudly and started to whir as a washed out, faded blue image was projected onto the opposite hull. Tinny music buzzed through the speakers but Korra ignored it as she searched the other cubbies for the three remaining kits.

She dumped out all their contents on the floor and laid them out. She had six canisters of water, a ton of food so old it was unrecognizable and came apart in her hands, four medical kits filled with clean bandages and antiseptic, and four copies of a book that had _Varrick’s_ _Guide to Not-Dying_ blazoned in glittery text across the front.

Korra opened the book slowly and felt the stiff pages crack.

_So you’re:_

_adrift in space...................................21_  
_marooned on a planet.......................36_  
_being sucked into a black hole..........Last Page_  
_on fire...............................................Last Page  
_ _interested in my hair care tips...........2_

Korra snapped the book shut, coughing when it sent a plume of dust into her face, and tossed the book over her shoulder without a second thought.

Korra crawled over to where her discarded helmet lay, and she carried it back over to her collection. She used the cracked visor to inspect her face. She had several small cuts and her hair was matted down with dried blood. She gingerly touched the spot with her fingers and flinched when it stung.

She opened one of the canisters of water and bent the water out in a stream, letting it encircle her head wound. After a few minutes she felt considerably better, and she silently thanked the sick bay and all the training they had forced on her.

“Hello,” a quiet voice above her greeted.

Korra jumped, startled, and lost her hold on the water, drenching her clothes. “Augh!”

“Sorry!” said the voice and Korra looked up at the hatch. There was a young girl with brown hair that hugged her face with a bun. A normal _girl._ The most disappointing alien ever. “Are you okay?”

“Wh-who are you?” Korra demanded as she leapt to her feet. She readied herself to bend the water around her if she needed to defend herself.

“My name is Jinora. I saw your pod go down and I wanted to check and make sure you were alright. Are you?” Jinora asked kindly before becoming distracted. “Oh _wow_! Nuktuk! I haven’t seen a Nuktuk mover in ages, it's so _old!_ ”

Korra relaxed a little, though she was still wary of Jinora and hyper aware at how vulnerable she was, trapped in the escape pod. “Thanks for checking on me, I guess. I’m okay, I was able to heal the worst of it. I’m Korra, by the way.”

Jinora turned her attention back to Korra. “Nice to meet you! Do you need any help?”

“Nah, I’m good…” Korra said as she dusted herself off. “Wait. Actually, do you know of a radio I could use? I need to contact my… family. And the pod radio doesn’t work. It just talks and plays movers, apparently. ”

Jinora frowned. “I think there might be a colony radio in town, but…” She cast a brief look over her shoulder. “It’s getting dark, we’d never make it in time.”

Korra scratched her head. She hadn’t understood half of what Jinora had said, but she got the impression that she couldn’t go to the place where the radio was right now. “Okay, so what should I do?”

Jinora bit her lip for a moment before brightening. “You could come back to the temple with me! Aunt Kya would love to meet another waterbender, and in the morning I can take you to town.”

Korra understood ‘waterbender,’ at least. She considered Jinora’s invitation as the girl cast another look behind her. When she turned back to look inside the escape pod, she looked nervous. “We have to hurry. We shouldn’t be out here at night.”

“Okay, well first I’d like to get out of this deathtrap,” Korra stated as she picked up two of the water canisters and stuffed them into her pockets. They stuck out a little, but didn’t hinder her mobility too much.

“Oh, of course! Sorry!” Jinora disappeared from the hatch, and Korra bent the water from out of her clothes and around her. She used the water like a whip, dragging her up and out of the escape pod. The world had darkened considerably, awash with warm colors, and the air felt different in her lungs—crisp and cold.

Korra let herself slip off the escape pod but landed harder than she’d expected, prompting an expressive grunt as she fell forward onto her knees.

“You must not be used to the gravity,” Jinora observed, appearing next to Korra. “It’s a bit higher here than on the colonies.” She started to walk off, away from the escape pod.

Korra wiped her dirty palms on her pants. “I don’t know what a colony is, but I expect you’re right. I feel incredibly heavy.”

Jinora turned back, a confused look on her face. “What do you mea—” Jinora’s eyes widened as she spotted something behind Korra. “Korra, _run!”_

Korra whirled round and came face to face with the sight of a hulking, incorporeal creature tearing out of the trees and heading straight for Korra. She froze. Korra had never seen anything like this. It was translucent, with a red body and a white mask. Its face was set in a snarling smile.

Suddenly Korra felt the air around her shift, and just before the creature reached her she was swept to the side. The creature’s mouth snapped closed around empty air and turned to Jinora, who was busy bending.

Bending the _air_ , just like Yorru. Korra gaped from where she lay on the ground.

Jinora loosed another blast of air at the creature, making it rear back; from fear or pain, Korra wasn’t sure. It didn’t deter the creature for long though. Korra got to her feet and ran full tilt at the creature before leaping in the air, feet first, and loosed a blast of fire from her feet.

The creature leapt away and Korra took the opportunity to grab Jinora’s hand and drag her away, running towards the trees as fast as she could—which was a lot slower than what she was normally capable of. Stupid gravity.

“Not—not that way!” Jinora shouted, tugging on Korra and changing direction to run along the treeline.

“They’re angry that your escape pod destroyed some of the forest!” Jinora yelled over the sound of the creatures heavy, loping footsteps behind them.

“Believe me,” Korra panted, “if I had had any choice at all I wouldn’t ha— _Wah!_ ” Korra sprung forward, tackling Jinora to the ground just as the creature soared over them. Korra spun off the ground, kicking her legs in a wide arc and sending another wave of fire at the creature. When she was standing she planted her feet solidly and ripped a hunk of hard dirt from the ground, sending it spinning away. It smacked the creature in the face and Korra grinned in satisfaction.

When Korra turned to Jinora, the girl was staring at Korra with wide eyes. Korra took her hand and pulled her up from the ground. “Where do we go?” she asked hastily, eyeing the creature as it recovered from her attack.

Jinora seemed to regain her senses and began to run again. “Try not to hurt it, okay? It doesn’t know any better!”

Korra gritted her teeth. “That isn’t going to keep it from hurting _us!_ ”

Jinora led Korra to the edge of the field to where the grass became taller and jumped in, laying flat on her back. Korra followed suit, trying to quiet her heavy breathing as the creature reached the edge of the field, looking for them. Korra held her breath until the creature moved on, inspecting the treeline beyond. Korra let out a relieved sigh.

Jinora pulled herself into a crouched position and motioned for Korra to follow her quietly. For several minutes they pushed through the tall grass, though Korra kept getting distracted by all of the tiny creatures that lived on the leaves of plants and flowers. Eventually Jinora huffed in impatience and took Korra by the wrist, leading her out of the grass.

When they finally reached a clearing Jinora stood and whirled around to Korra with disbelief written all over her face. “You can firebend,” she stated flatly.

“Er, yes?” Korra said hesitantly, holding out her palm and letting a small flame hover there for a moment before extinguishing it. “What was that thing, anyway?”

“A dark spirit,” Jinora answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You can bend fire, and water, and earth. Air?”

“Water and earth yes, but I’ve never seen anyone bend _air_ before. That’s so cool!” Korra still couldn’t quite believe it.

Jinora put a hand on her head. “So not air, but you can bend _three_ elements.”

It wasn’t a question, so Korra just shrugged. “Yeah, it’s weird, isn’t it?”

Jinora let her hand fall and she shook her head. “It’s not weird at all. You’re the _Avatar_.”

Korra regarded Jinora blankly. “The _what?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think chapter three is the first chapter that really represents what Weightless is. So I hope you're still with me!
> 
> osmrice is a beta to me in dark places, when all other lights go out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reaching out.

_It wasn’t that Korra was_ hiding _, exactly. It was just that she didn’t want to be found, and very few people expected a thirteen year old to be face down in garden soil._

_Prime shift had ended and everyone who worked the gardens had long since gone home. Korra slipped in and quietly shut the door behind her. She didn’t particularly enjoy working in the gardens, but she did like it after hours. It was warm and airy, and it smelled natural in a way that no other place on Republic did._

_She carefully picked her way around the plants, careful not to disturb any stalks until she found a spot she liked and laid down. Korra turned her head to lay along a row of young plants and closed one eye._

_“Korra?” came a quiet voice in the dark and Korra almost inhaled a lungful of dirt. “What are you doing?”_

_Korra sat up in surprise and found Asami standing by one of the workbenches. She was wearing a white sweater and a black skirt, and she had a textbook pressed against her chest. Korra quickly brushed off the wayward dirt that clung to her cheek and stood._

_Korra felt her face flush hotly. “N-nothing. What are you doing here?”_

_Asami looked down at the book in her arms. “I had to work in the gardens today and I accidentally left my textbook, so I came back to get it.” She placed her textbook back on the workbench and stepped out of the aisle to join Korra on the plot of soil. “Were you going to take a nap?” she asked with a quirk of her lips._

_“No,” Korra answered miserably. She liked Asami; she was nice and very patient with Korra during their tutoring sessions, but at that moment Korra wanted nothing but for her to go away._

_Asami made her way to Korra’s side with just as much care as Korra had. “Is it a secret?” she whispered conspiratorially._

_Korra couldn’t meet Asami’s eye. They had_ just _become friends, Korra didn’t want Asami to think she was weird so soon. Though, it was probably already too late._

_When Korra didn’t respond Asami tilted her head, trying to catch Korra’s gaze. “Hey,” she said more seriously. “I won’t tell anyone.”_

_“No, but you’ll make fun of me,” Korra stated matter-of-factly. Korra knew she was being pouty, but dammit it had_ hurt _when Mako and Bolin had dismissed her fantasy with light teasing._

_“Korra,” Asami said as she placed a cool hand on Korra’s arm. “I won’t.”_

_Korra sighed. “Fine,” she muttered and knelt again. “Er—your clothes…” she warned but Asami had followed her lead without hesitation, kneeling on the soil with her bare knees and not bothering to take off her sweater._

_Korra laid down just as she had before and Asami mirrored her, letting her head rest next to Korra. “Do you know who Yorru is?” Korra asked._

_Asami shifts closer, the top of her head grazing Korra’s. “I’ve seen him, but I’ve never met him.”_

_“He’s nice. He knows a lot of stuff and sometimes I go and visit him and he, uh, tells me about Earth.” Korra braced herself for derision, but Asami remained quiet._

_Korra tucked her hands beneath her body and let her eyes unfocus. “Yorru says that on Earth they have trees. Kind of like how we have the fruit trees, but these are way bigger, and they grow all over the place. He said that you can walk through ‘forests’ and see nothing but trees in every direction.”_

_Asami still didn’t respond, so Korra continued. “And, um, there are mountains, just like on other planets. And from really far away they look brown and green, because plants grow on them.”_

_Asami giggled. “Green mountains,” she repeated, amused._

_Korra grinned. “Yeah. So sometimes I come down here and I… uh, pretend. If you sort of… I don’t know, let your eyes drift? You can kind of see it. You know what I mean?”_

_“Let me try.” After a short moment Asami shifted. “Oh, I get it. You can sort of imagine the mountains and the trees…”_

_Korra let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah.” Korra started to become a little more excited in her eagerness to share what she’d imagined with Asami. “There’s also weather, kind of like other planets have, but instead of acid or something falling, it’s_ water _. Like, water you can_ drink _. And uh—” Korra lifted her head a fraction and spotted a small watering can left nearby. She bent a tendril of water out of it and let it hover above where the scene was set. Asami didn’t even seem to notice._

_“And it falls…” Korra said as she separated the water into droplets, letting it fall over the trees and mountains. “... like this.”_

_Korra watched as a few droplets of water splattered against Asami’s face and she merely giggled, not bothered in the slightest._

_“Is that… is that stupid?” Korra asked timidly._

_Asami finally looked at Korra with a brightness behind her green eyes that Korra had never seen before. “No, that’s not stupid. It’s really cool.” Asami laid her head back down. “What else?”_

_Korra considered the question as she lay her head back down. “Well, when you look up from the surface of Earth it looks_ blue _.”_

_Asami laughed. “What?”_

_“Yeah!” Korra insisted. “But Yorru didn’t know why. Something to do with the atmosphere, I guess.” Korra’s gaze wandered up. “I wonder if people on Earth could see stars like we can.”_

_Korra felt Asami shift. “They could! I know because I was in the library and they have all these_ really _old books about Earth!”_

_“What? Really?” Korra lifted her head again and found herself a hair’s breadth away from Asami, who was studying Korra intensely. “You read them?”_

_“Er—well I’m not_ supposed _to, but the librarian likes me so she doesn’t really pay much attention to me when I’m in there…”_

_Korra smiled. “Cool.”_

_Asami’s cheeks tinted. “People on Earth would see the stars and name them. Like, um, the Azure Dragon, or The White Tiger Monkey.”_

_Korra’s eyebrows lifted. “Animals! Yorru doesn’t know a lot about animals.”_

_“Not just animals, other things too! Like… Crooked Running Water or Xuan Wu, the Black Warrior.” Asami smiled softly to herself. “And they have stories. I can’t remember them all, but the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger Monkey were generals, and when they died their souls remained and inhabited other great heroes.”_

_Korra was completely entranced. “What about the Black Warrior?”_

_Asami sat up further and Korra followed her until they both sat on their heels facing each other. “He was a prince, but he didn’t want to inherit the throne, so he left home to achieve enlightenment. A god found him worthy and made him a very powerful god that could control the elements.”_

_Korra barked a laugh. “Just like that?”_

_Asami grimaced and looked down at her hands. “Well no, there was more to the story but I forgot.”_

_Korra tilted her head, much like Asami had done earlier. “Will you show me? The books, I mean. This is a lot more interesting than how heat becomes energy, or whatever.”_

_Asami’s gaze snapped back to Korra. “Thermodynamics is really interesting!” she protested indignantly._

_“Sure it is,” Korra said with a roll of her eyes. “But really, can we go to the library?”_

_“Right now?”_

_“... yes?”_

_Asami studied Korra for a long moment. “You really want to?”_

_Korra grinned hugely, hopped to her feet and extended a hand down to Asami. “Let's go.”_

 

_—_

 

“The _what_?”

“The _Avatar_ ,” Jinora repeated, slower.

Korra rolled her eyes. “Saying it slower doesn’t really help. I have no idea what that is.”

Jinora looked genuinely confused. “Don’t… don’t the colonies talk about the Avatar anymore? Is that why you never came forward to the White Lotus?”

“The White Lotus? Like Pai Sho?”

Jinora looked as if she couldn’t quite believe they were having this conversation. “Yes… sort of. What colony did you say you were from?”

“You have colonies? Just like…” _Holy shit_.

Jinora was saying something, but Korra couldn’t hear a word of it. All the pieces that Korra had been steadfastly ignoring clicked into place. A planet that looked just as Yorru had described, with trees and blue skies. A, by all appearances, human girl who was familiar with Pai Sho and Nuktuk and Korra’s language. A planet with colonies. How many of those were there in the universe?

Korra laughed, because _of course_ it was Earth.

Jinora looked disconcerted. “Korra? Are you alright?”

Korra had to stoop a little to grasp Jinora’s shoulders. “I’m on _Earth!_ ” she exclaimed manically as she gently shook Jinora.

Jinora’s unsettled expression broke with a giggle. “You’re not from a colony then? How did you end up in an escape pod?”

Korra released Jinora and grinned. “I’m from Republic.”

Jinora’s brow furrowed. “What’s Republic?”

Korra opened her mouth to explain, but ended up simply gaping like a fish as she false started several times. Finally she managed, “Er—well, Republic was an Earth colony, I guess. A long time ago. I’m honestly not entirely clear on the details.”

Jinora’s eyes widened. “I think I read about this! There was a fifth colony but…” Jinora frowned. “The book I read said it was destroyed…”

Korra chuckled. “I’m going to go with no, it wasn’t destroyed.”

Jinora glanced behind Korra and bit her lip. “We should go, my dad is going to kill me…” She began to walk briskly away, and Korra hurried to follow.

“Do you think your dad will help me contact Republic?”

“I don’t know,” Jinora answered honestly. “I thought you were from one of the other colonies, and we can contact them from the radio in town, but I don’t know if it can reach anyone else.”

“Oh…” Korra tried not to sound too dispirited, but it was honestly getting exhausting not to let panic and fear overwhelm her. She had been subjected to so much in such a short amount of time, and her nerves were beyond frayed.

Her despondence must have been obvious, because Jinora hurried to add, “But my dad will do whatever he can to help. We all will!”

“Why?” Korra asked. “Why would he help me? Why are _you_ helping me? You don’t even know me.”

“Maybe not, but my grandfather was the last Avatar,” Jinora said softly with a small, sad smile.

“Oh yeah? So he could bend more than one element too?”

Jinora nodded. “All of them. Fire, earth, water and air.”

“Does that mean I can learn how to bend air too?” Korra asked excitedly. Jinora nodded again and Korra continued, “So how many, uh, Avatars are there?” The ground was beginning to slope severely, making it more difficult for Korra to keep up with Jinora.

“There is only ever one at a time,” Jinora explained without looking at Korra. “As soon as my grandfather passed away he was reincarnated into you.”

Korra halted, stunned. “Oh. I’m… I’m sorry.”

Jinora stopped too and looked back at Korra with a kind smile. “Don’t be. I think it’s beautiful. He gets to live on in you.”

Korra mirrored her smile unsurely. “That’s… kind of weird.”

Jinora giggled and resumed the climb. “Maybe a little.”

They walked in silence for a time. Partly because Korra needed time to process what Jinora had told her, and partly because the steep incline was commanding most of Korra’s breath. The journey to the temple was taking far longer than Korra had anticipated. They had been climbing this mountain for who knew how long and Korra’s back and legs ached under the strain of the unfamiliar gravity.

“Just how far is this place?” she panted as she lagged behind.

Jinora didn’t slow her step. “Not much farther.”

The sky had darkened to black, and occasionally Jinora would throw a worried look over her shoulder, but no other spirits came to bother them. Korra was relieved. She had no idea if she would be capable of running from another spirit, let alone fighting one.

Eventually the ground began to even out and gave Korra a chance to catch her breath. As they walked along several sheer rock faces Korra let her eyes wander up at the darkened sky. She could see light reflecting off what could only be a moon. It was beautiful; streaks and splotches of ethereal grey. It inexplicably filled Korra with a sense of calm.

“This is probably close enough,” Jinora announced suddenly and Korra barely managed to avoid running into Jinora in her distracted state.

Jinora produced a small, wooden whistle in the shape of a horned creature. She blew into it hard, but no sound came out.

“I think your whistle is broken,” Korra observed dryly.

Jinora looked up into the darkness, seemingly at nothing. “No, it isn’t,” she responded lightly.

Korra heard the creature before she saw it emerge from the darkness above her. It was huge, with cream fur and six limbs. It had a long, flat tail and Korra could hear it beat against the air.

The animal landed in front of Jinora with surprising lightness and Korra fought her every instinct to run as Jinora ran to it without hesitation. She threw her arms around its horned head as best she could. “Hi Oogi, did you miss me?” she cooed as she nuzzled against the animal. “This is Korra. She’s going to come with us.”

At Jinora’s expectant look Korra waved nervously. “Uh, h-hi… Oogi, was it?”

Oogi wheezed gently and Jinora conjured a gust of air to sling herself onto the wide saddle at Oogi’s back. “He’ll take us up to the temple.”

Korra edged around Oogi’s face to his flank and, with some difficulty, managed to scramble up to the saddle, where she laid spread eagle, wishing that this gravity would just _lighten up a little_.

Oogi rose into the air with ease and Korra thought it wasn’t so different from being in the tugboat. She relaxed almost immediately.

It wasn’t long before the temple came into view. It was dim, but with the light of the moon Korra could make out the green accented, weathered stone and tall spires that looked as if they had been carved out of the mountain.

Oogi descended onto a patterned plateau, where a tall, bald man in a red cloak waited. “Jinora! Where have you _been_?” he asked loudly as Jinora leapt from the saddle and straight into his waiting arms.

Korra, on the other hand, disembarked clumsily and Oogi grunted when she accidentally tugged on his fur on her way to crumpling in a heap on the ground.

“Who is this?” the man asked before lowering his voice. “Jinora, you know we don’t allow strange—”

“Daddy, this is Ko—”

“You lead her here, and now she could tell the Red Lotus—”

“Dad! If you would just let me explain, she was the one in the escape pod we saw—”

“We can’t take in _every_ wayward soul that you come across—”

“She’s the Avatar, Dad!” Jinora shouted, and her father snapped his jaw shut in surprise.

Several other people began to trickle out of the temple, regarding Korra suspiciously. Most of the group were dressed similarly to Jinora and her father, in red and yellow. Two of them though, were not.

“What? No she isn’t,” said Jinora’s father.

“She _is_ ,” Jinora insisted. “Her name is Korra.”

“Um, hello,” Korra greeted with a tilted head and a shy smile she hoped was disarming.

“Yes hello, nice to meet you,” Jinora’s father said distractedly. “I just need a moment to speak with my daughter—”

“Korra, show him!” Jinora pleaded and her father regarded Korra with thinly veiled impatience.

“Oh, uh, right.” Korra planted her feet firmly and tore a chunk of stone out of the ground.

Jinora’s father slapped a palm to his face. “You just destroyed an ancient airbender courtyard…”

Korra winced. “Shit, sorry. Let me just…” She lowered the piece back into place as best as she could, but it didn’t slot itself into position neatly— instead, it just jutted out obviously with cracks spidered all over. Korra tucked her hands behind her back meekly. “S-sorry.”

After an awkward moment of silence Korra dug into a pocket and unscrewed the cap of one of her water canisters before pulling the water out in a thin stream. She didn't bother to hide her smug smile when she saw Jinora’s father’s jaw drop open as she let the water thread between her fingers a few times.

“Wooooie!” cheered an older man with wild hair and a beard as he leapt into the air and fist pumped. “We found the Avatar!”

“See?” Jinora crossed her arms with a huff. “I _told_ you.”

For a long moment Jinora’s father didn’t say anything, but when he finally did it was a breathy murmur. “After all this time…”

An older woman in blue with long, grey hair and dark skin like Korra’s touched his elbow. “Perhaps we should bring—Korra, was it?” Korra nodded. “Why don’t we bring Korra inside, Tenzin?”

He straightened stiffly and cleared his throat. “Yes. Yes, of course. Please come in… Korra. My name is Tenzin. This… this is my family.”

The dark skinned woman stepped forward. “I’m Kya.” She pointed to the man with the wild hair. “That’s Bumi. We’re Tenzin’s older siblings.”

“Nice to meet you,” Korra said with a tired smile as Kya led her inside behind the rest of the group.

The interior of the building was simply furnished and well lit. As they shuffled down the hall, two children, a boy and a girl, moved to flank Korra. “Hello!” greeted a girl a bit younger than Jinora. “My name’s Ikki! Are you going to live with us now? Because Daddy always said that when we found the Avatar he would be their airbending teacher and you’re the Avatar so—”

The boy on the other side of Korra interrupted. “Ikki, look at how _old_ she is, she probably already _knows_ how to airbend, _duh_.”

Korra felt her face flare. “Actually… I don’t know how to airbend.”

“ _What?_ ” the boy demanded. “What kind of Avatar _are_ you?”

“Meelo, Ikki, that’s enough,” Tenzin chided without turning around.

“Not a very good one, apparently,” Korra mumbled as she was ushered into a sitting room with a few floor mats and a low table. A kind looking woman with brown hair and a baby in her arms addressed Korra. “I’m Pema, Tenzin’s wife. Would you like something to eat? You look exhausted.”

Korra hadn’t really thought about the persistent pang in her stomach that had been present for hours, but at the suggestion her stomach gave a loud rumble. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” the woman said with a smile. C’mon kids, let’s give them some space to talk.”

Through a chorus of ‘awww’ from the two younger children, Jinora piped up. “Can I stay?”

Considering that Jinora was the only person on Earth Korra could even remotely call a friend, she was loathed to part with the girl. “I would really like that,” Korra agreed quickly as she sat on a floor mat.

The woman shared a look with Tenzin, who simply nodded. “Alright,” she said. “The rest of you though, let’s go.”

Tenzin, Kya and Bumi seated themselves across the table making Korra feel vulnerable and scrutinized. She fidgeted uncomfortably until Jinora joined her at the table and offered Korra an encouraging smile. Korra tried to return it and hoped Jinora could sense the gratitude that laced it.

Across from them Korra could hear Tenzin muttering conspiratorially to his siblings. “I’m not sure contacting the White Lotus—”

“No way,” the one with wild hair—Bumi?—cut in. “We have an advantage. No one else knows she’s been found.”

Kya sighed. “As much as I don’t like it, I agree. We can’t risk word getting to the Red—”

“I’m right here, you know,” Korra interrupted impatiently.

All three of them straightened immediately, as if caught in an act. Tenzin cleared his throat. “Yes, of course. I apologize. You have come a long way. What colony are you from? Tui or La, I imagine.”

“I don’t know what that _means_.” Korra felt like she had been saying that a lot recently. “I’m from Republic.”

There was a long beat of silence before Bumi mused, “I thought Republic was a myth.”

“I thought _Earth_ was a myth!” Korra exclaimed, exasperated. “I was attacked and jettisoned in that escape pod. Then I landed here, of all the places in the whole universe, and I’m an _Avatar_ or whatever and there are _air_ benders apparently and I was carried up to a mountain temple on the back of that huge animal and—”

“Whoa, slow down,” Kya said, inching closer and leaning her arms flat on the table. “I know all of this must be overwhelming.”

“That’s an understatement,” Korra grumbled.

“Wait,” Tenzin said with his forehead furrowed. “There are no airbenders on Republic? Airbending is certainly rare on Earth and among the colonies… for complicated reasons… but _no_ airbenders whatsoever? That’s odd.”

“No…” Korra trailed off as the memory of Yorru blasting her into the escape pod flashed across her mind unbidden. “The man that attacked me. I thought he was a nonbender… but he used airbending to surprise me.”

“Who was he? Why did he attack you?” Bumi asked.

Korra took a deep breath and willed herself not to cry. “He was… my friend. I don’t know why he attacked me…”

Bumi scratched his beard. “Did he know you’re the Avatar?”

“ _I_ didn’t know I was the Avatar,” Korra said bitterly.

“But he knew you could bend more than one element,” Tenzin stated.

“...Yes.”

“Red Lotus,” Bumi said with disgust.

Kya shot him a sharp look. “We don’t know that.”

“Who else, then? Who else would attack a girl—”

Korra smacked her palm against the table. It stung. “ _Still_ _here_ ,” she hissed. “I keep hearing that name. Who are the Red Lotus?”

Neither sibling answered, instead looking to Tenzin. His gaze had darkened. “As the Avatar, you’re meant to bring peace and balance to the world. The Red Lotus wishes to use the Avatar to their own ends, namely chaos in the name of ‘freedom.’ And if they cannot bring the Avatar under their influence, then they seek to destroy the Avatar.”

Korra’s gaze unfocused as she processed Tenzin’s words. “Oh, is that all?” Korra joked lamely, betrayed by the waver in her voice.

“Which is why you must remain a secret, at least until you become fully realized and can better protect yourself,” Tenzin said.

“What… what does that mean?” Korra asked weakly. Her energy for taking in new information was quickly draining from her.

“It means,” he continued firmly, “you have to learn how to airbend. As soon as possible.”

“But I need to contact Republic,” Korra protested with an edge of panic. “They need to know I’m here. I need to go _back_.”

Tenzin looked as if he wanted to disagree, but Jinora surprised them by piping up. “Her family probably thinks she’s dead, Dad.” Korra nodded vigorously.

Tenzin visibly deflated as he looked as his daughter. “You’re… you’re right…” Tenzin said, resigned. “We’ll try to figure something out, Korra. But in the meantime, you need to start airbending training. It’s for your own safety.”

As excited as Korra was to learn how to airbend, she was mostly tired of talking. “Fine,” she agreed as Pema returned with a tray of tea and steamed buns. Korra’s hunger came roaring back.

Tenzin offered her a kind smile, surprisingly full of warmth. “I know you must have a lot of questions still, and we’ll get to them. But for now, eat. Make yourself at home. We’ll set you up in a room, and you can rest. Just know that you’re safe, Korra.”

Korra was surprised to find his words as comforting as the tea that warmed her chest.

 

—

 

It wasn’t unusual for Asami to be the last one in the department, but it had been hours since she had seen a single soul, and the silence was starting to weigh on her. Her hands were covered in multicolored chalk dust and her desk was a complete mess of calculations made from what little information the monitoring team had provided.

Asami knew what time Korra had been jettisoned. She knew how fast Korra was traveling. She knew the direction she’d been sent. She even knew its trajectory for the first hour, until the pod had finally cut power from its tracking device.

What Asami didn’t know was where Korra had gone.

The problem was that Republic had never mapped or even sent transponders in the direction that Korra had been jettisoned. Asami was completely blind and every second that passed was another infinite moment of Korra hurtling away from her.

Asami swiveled in her chair to face the console and slipped her headphones over her ears. She typed in the frequency used by the escape pod almost reflexively, having already done it eleven times since Korra disappeared. She sent out a ping on the frequency and waited. And waited.

For the twelfth time Asami slid off her headphones in disappointment.

Asami ran her fingers through her hair, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. Her mind ran through the calculations and she considered how best to convince Baatar to let her put a few transponders out to image the area that Korra had traveled through. She thought about the equations spread out all over her desk and how the sum of their parts could lead her to Korra, if she could only see in the dark.

The numbers were hard to cling to in her exhaustion and they quickly gave way to Korra. Korra, who twenty-four hours ago had been lying next to Asami, safe. Her warm skin beneath Asami’s fingertips, her laugh in Asami’s ears. Her lips against Asami’s, speaking a language only Asami could understand.

It was then that Asami finally cried. She could no longer hold back and the tears came rolling down her cheeks in a torrent. She cried because she knew in her heart that Korra was alive, but that she was alone, in the black, and out of Asami’s reach. She cried because they were _just_ starting to figure things out, and now they never would. She cried because she had never felt so helpless.

But mostly she cried because she had never told her best friend that she loved her. That Korra would die without knowing what she meant to Asami.

 _No_. She wasn’t dead yet. Asami didn’t have the time for this, she had work to do. Asami rubbed her eyes against her sleeve and leaned back over her desk, her watery vision blurring her careful calculations.

Asami ran her numbers again. How quickly Republic was moving. At what speed the escape pod was jettisoned. How much the flight path deviated as it traveled away from… Wait. The flight path. It deviated. Right before Republic lost contact with it, it moved degrees. _Several_ degrees. It wasn’t on the same orbit as Republic. It was being pulled by something else. _But what_?

Asami had only a few numbers that reflected the pull, not nearly as many as she wanted. Her exhaustion forgotten, Asami picked up a piece of broken chalk—she had broken several in frustration already—and started to scribble as fast as her brain was buzzing. She muttered to herself, “Force… equals… gravitational constant… m1— _What’s m1?_ Shit—”

Asami skimmed through her notes until she found the dimensions of the escape pod and wrote its mass into her formula. Her chalk broke again in her haste, but she only huffed impatiently and resumed writing with the small nub of chalk pinched between her fingers.

“Whatever it is… it’s huge,” she mumbled just seconds before her breath caught in her throat.

A planet. The escape pod had been pulled out of orbit by a _planet_.

 _Fuck_.

Asami raced down the corridor, her chalkboard held out in front of her so it wouldn’t rub against her uniform. She had never been to the earthbender bunk room before, but she had passed it enough times that she found her way without too much difficulty. The door to the room slid open and she slowed to a half crouched walk. “Wei?” she whispered harshly into the darkness as she passed the bunks. “Wei!” she repeated, louder.

Bolin was easy to spot, his blanket half on the floor and his body sprawled out wide with one leg hanging over the edge of his bunk. “Bolin!” she hissed. “Wake up! Which bunk is Wei in?”

“Wha—?” Bolin muttered when she shook him forcefully. “Asam…? Asami! What’s wrong?”

“It’s a _planet_!” she squeaked before remembering herself and clapping a hand over her mouth. “I figured it out,” she said more quietly as she gestured to the chalkboard, as if Bolin could understand her formulas even if he _could_ read in the dark. “The esca-”

“What’s a planet?” Bolin asked as he rubbed at an eye, not even looking at Asami. “Does this have something to do with those weird radio waves you were looking into?”

 _Oh_.

Asami froze, her eyes widening as she stared at Bolin in the dim light. “Bolin,” she said flatly.

“...Yeah?”

“You. Are. A. _Genius_!” Asami cried as she jumped up and fled from the room.

“I… am?” Bolin asked dazedly amid confused shouts from his bunkmates.

“You _are_! Get Mako!” Asami yelled from the corridor as the door slid closed behind her.

Getting back to her desk felt much longer than it actually took. Asami threw her chalkboard down with a clatter onto her desk and wrenched her headphones back over her ears. She fiddled with her console until she found the right frequency. It hissed and popped and then came to life in her ears.

“ _Ba—adio, and up next is—_ ” There was a long beat, then music. Choppy, static filled music, but music unlike anything Asami had ever heard just the same. She sat and listened for what felt like hours, hanging on to every note that came through her headphones.

Mako and Bolin burst into the room and skidded to a stop in front of Asami’s desk and she slipped off her headphones. “Asami! What’s wrong?” Mako panted.

“It’s _Earth_.”

Mako’s brow furrowed. “What’s Earth?”

“That weird radio frequency I’ve been looking into. It’s Earth,” Asami breathed, still in disbelief. “The signal wasn’t clear enough before, but now we’re closer and it’s become much clearer and Korra’s escape pod veered off course right before we lost communication with it so something huge had to be affecting it and—”

“Asami…” Bolin said gently as he and Mako shared a look. “I think it’s time you went to bed. You’ve been at this for a while.”

Asami shut her eyes with a small smile. “You don’t believe me.”

Bolin shook his head with his arms out in front of him. “No no no nonoo it’s not that! I believe you, definitely. Just, maybe you should take a nap before you go announcing that we’re getting a signal from a planet we haven’t seen in five hundred years?”

“You don’t think it’s Earth?” Asami’s smile turned into a smirk when she pulled her headphones out of the audio jack of her console. With a crackle, the sound filled the room.

“— _min’ at ya_ live _fro—Great, Green Jewel of the colonies it’s... Ba Sing Se Radiooo!”_

Asami had never been more satisfied with someone’s reactionary expression, _ever_.

Mako’s jaw unhinged and Bolin let out a sound that was halfway between a gasp and a squeal before promptly collapsing to the floor.

“Is this a joke?” Mako asked after blinking owlishly at Asami a few times.

“No.” Asami gestured at her chalkboard. “It all makes so much sense.”

“I’m sorry,” Bolin said from the floor as he raised a single finger into the air. “You’re saying that Korra is on _Earth_. _The_ Earth.”

“That’s what she’s saying, bro. Do you need help up?” Mako extended a hand to Bolin.

Bolin let his arm collapse back down onto the floor. “I think I’ll just stay down here for a little while longer, if that’s okay.”

“So Korra’s on Earth,” Mako said thoughtfully. “So how do we get her _off_ Earth?”

Asami’s smirk faded. “I… I’m not sure. I can’t hail the escape pod, probably because the escape pod radio isn’t strong enough to reach us. If… If she could boost the signal, attach it to a satellite dish or something, that might work.”

“Would Korra think to do that?”

Asami absentmindedly fiddled with her nub of chalk, spreading the dust all over her fingers as she thought. “I imagine she would try… if she can. Who knows where she’s landed or what condition the escape pod is in or if she’s even…”

“Asami,” Mako said seriously; he moved around Bolin’s prone body and placed his hands on her desk, leaning closer to her. “You can’t think like that. She’s out there and she needs us.”

Asami searched Mako’s eyes. “You’re right,” she finally agreed and stood, dusting off her hands. “We should start by mapping the area. Can you steal some transponders and put them out with Wing or Wei? If Baatar gets mad you can blame me.”

“Don’t worry about Baatar.” Mako waved her off. “I’ll take care of it. Just give me the coordinates of where you want them sent to.”

Asami smiled. “Thanks, Mako.”

“What should I do?” Bolin sat up and looked at her expectantly from the floor.

“Uh,” Asami bit her lip. “Get me more coffee?”

“On it!” Bolin shouted as he leapt from the floor and sprinted from the room.

Mako watched him go before turning back to Asami. “What are you going to do?”

Asami tapped her chin and twirled her headphones between her fingers. “I’m going to try and get Korra a message.”

Mako frowned. “How? I thought you said the escape pod radio wouldn’t receive anything?”

“Not the escape pod radio…” Asami swiveled in her chair to face her console. “But maybe I can use this radio frequency…”

“The Ba Sing Se Radio station? Would it really be that easy?”

Asami grimaced. “No… the transponders aren’t powerful enough to send something large but… maybe I can send a recording a few seconds long.”

Mako sighed. “It’s worth a shot, I guess. I’m going to go find Wei.”

Asami nodded absentmindedly, hardly noticing Mako’s departure.

She slipped her headphones on and tapped away on her console. “Okay Korra, listen up…”

 

—

 

Korra had never realized how _loud_ space was before. The absence of all sound except for the pounding of her heart and her shallow, measured breaths would _roar_ in her ears.

But she didn’t realize it until that moment, lying on her stiff bed and listening to the million asynchronous sounds of Earth that drowned out the roar. Earth was _quiet_ in a way that space, or Republic, for that matter, could never be. So quiet that she couldn’t sleep. As exhausted as she was, as broken as she was, there was nothing familiar to hold onto. Her body was too heavy. The air too clean. The room too empty.

She wasn’t home. And she didn’t mean Republic, in her tiny bunk.

She wondered what Asami was doing at that moment. There was that small, irrational and unconfident part of herself where she wondered if anyone missed her. If Asami missed her. If they even cared she was gone.

But of course she knew they did. She knew they would be confused and worried. Probably mourning her. That was the real fear. That they had already given her up for dead. That they were already trying to move on with their lives.

That there was no one looking for her, listening for her.

She sat up, her head giving a feeble throb but eventually quieting, and padded on bare feet out of her room. The stone was cool against her skin and if she closed her eyes she could briefly pretend that it was familiar metal, not stone, beneath her feet. She could imagine that the air swirling around her was coming from the familiar, rattling vents that tinged the air with the smell of chemicals and iron.

The air on Republic was predictable. It blew out of the vents in the same amounts, and at the same speed. The air on Earth would shift randomly and any deviation of movement across her skin would bring her rocketing back to the temple, the illusion lost.

The air lead her to another carefully groomed plateau. Korra traced the circular patterns painted on the stone with her feet as she shuffled to the edge that overlooked the expansive mountain range. When she reached the ledge she picked her head up and was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what she saw.

It was too wide, too tall, too _big_. Korra told herself that she was being ridiculous, she was used to being in _space_ , for fuck’s sake, the truest representation of infinity that existed. But there was something comforting about the black. It was easy to forget that things existed beyond what the lights of the tugboat reached. Here, however, Korra could see Earth spread out in every direction, and it felt like infinity in a way that space never had.

Korra refused to become overwhelmed. She could _do_ this. She sat at the lipped edge and turned, swinging her legs over and letting them hang over the ledge. She gripped uselessly at the stone. It felt as if there was nothing to hold onto, nothing to keep her anchored here, nothing to keep her from falling up, back through the atmosphere to the death that would await her on the other side.

Korra let out a shaky sigh and closed her eyes, willing herself not to dwell on how exposed and vulnerable she felt in the open air. She knew nothing would happen to her, logically, but it didn’t stop the fear in her chest from stunting her breath. She was panicking.

No. No panicking, Korra, c’mon. Asami. Asami.

 _Asami_.

The way her nose crinkled when she laughed.

The way she would be a little grumpy in the morning before she’d had coffee.

The way she would light up when she had solved something.

The way she would occasionally bite her lip and give Korra a look that was as confusing as it was alluring.

Oh. _That’s_ what that was. How had it taken Korra so long to figure out what that look meant? Korra let a soggy laugh escape her lungs.

Korra noticed the tears now, running down her cheeks and staining her shirt faster than they ever had on Republic. She didn’t bother to wipe them away; they would just be replaced by fresh tears she couldn’t control. She considered where she could go. Where she could feel as if the world wasn’t so big, where the sky wouldn’t swallow her whole.

“Hey.”

Korra spun around, sniffing and wiping at her eyes just as uselessly as she’d expected. “Oh—uh, hello.” She hated how broken her voice sounded.

Kya ignored Korra’s obvious distress as she moved to sit on the ledge as well. “Mind if I join you?”

Korra chuckled weakly. “I think you just did.”

Kya hummed and kicked her legs out over the edge. She said nothing while Korra collected herself and dried her puffy eyes. After a few moments Korra managed to follow Kya’s gaze back out to the scenery, letting her eyes trace the lines that separated the Earth from the sky. It didn’t feel so overwhelming now.

It wasn’t awkward, exactly, but Korra felt the need to break the silence anyway. “So, you’re a waterbender, huh?” Korra managed. “Me too! Er—I guess I’m an _everything_ bender but I was a waterbender first and—oh, w-well I can’t bend air yet so I suppose I’m not really an _every_ thing bender—”

“Take a breath,” Kya instructed calmly and tilted her head towards Korra with an amused smile. “I get it. You’re Water Tribe.”

Korra let out a slow breath. “We’re separated by our elements on Republic, not by... heritage, or whatever.”

Kya shrugged. “Maybe not, but you’re definitely Water Tribe. I bet not a lot of people have skin like ours on Republic.”

“No… I guess not.” Korra looked down at her hands while she considered. “A few other waterbenders, but not like, a ton.”

“And Korra, that’s a Water Tribe name too.”

“It is?” Korra looked up.

Kya nodded. “Definitely. That’s your heritage Korra, just a couple centuries later.”

Korra contemplated this. She hadn’t considered the possibility that she could _belong_ on Earth. “What’s… what’s it like?”

“What, the Southern Water Tribe?” Kya asked. When Korra nodded she smiled. “It’s miserable.”

“Oh,” Korra muttered, disappointed.

“It’s cold all the time. You can’t go outside without a thick jacket. Nothing grows, so don’t even consider planting anything. It’s dark most of the time and _everything_ smells like fish.”

Korra’s frown deepened. “I guess you prefer being here then.”

Kya gave an amused snort. “Who wouldn’t? It’s warm and sunny all the time, and just look at this scenery! It’s beautiful up here.” Korra nodded. It certainly was beautiful.

“But it’s not home,” Kya said softly. “I can’t walk through freshly fallen snow here. I can’t smell the ocean, or watch the sun rise over the water. I can’t go fishing or ice dodging.” Kya started becoming more animated, gesticulating with her hands. “I can’t eat my mother’s sea prune stew. I can’t go _penguin sledding_.”

Korra laughed at Kya’s excited expression. “I don’t know what that is, but it sounds fun.”

Kya sighed. “You have _no_ idea. This place is wonderful, it really is. But I miss home.”

“So why aren’t you there?” Korra asked.

Kya’s smile faltered, but returned after a moment. “Most of my family is here, and they need me,” she said simply.

“Most?” Korra asked before she could stop herself. It was perhaps too personal a question.

“My mother is there. I miss her.”

Korra’s eyebrows pinched together when she thought of her own family. “I miss my mom too. And my dad and my—well, everyone.”

“I can only imagine,” Kya said sympathetically.

Korra closed her eyes. “I’m… never going to see them again, am I?” Korra asked, trying and failing to keep the waver out of her voice.

Kya leaned off her hands and turned to face Korra. “I don’t know, Korra. But the odds of you ending up here are too astronomical to attribute to chance. You’re here for a reason.”

Korra blinked away a few wayward tears. “Right…”

“It’s not home, but maybe it can still be beautiful,” Kya said as she swung her legs back over, getting to her feet.

Korra followed, not wanting to be left alone in the dizzying open air. She walked silently alongside Kya until they came to an abrupt stop. Kya looked at her expectantly before whispering, “I think this is your stop.” Korra blinked a few times before she realized Kya was right and slid the door to her room open. “It was nice meeting you, Korra. I thought it would be weird, but it wasn’t.”

Korra paused in the doorway. “Why would it be weird?”

Kya put a hand on her hip. “Well, you’re kind of my dad.”

Oh, right. _That._

“Y-yeah, I guess so. Well then… It’s way past your bedtime, young lady,” she joked awkwardly.

Kya rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. “Yeah, that didn’t work for him either.”

Kya left her then, turning the corner with a small wave and disappearing. Korra wasn’t convinced that she would be able to fall asleep still, but she slipped under the thin blanket anyway and shut her eyes.

Korra’s dreams were of nothing but air, sweeping her off her feet and swirling around her; choking her, smothering her, pulling the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping until—

“Wake up, Avatar lady!” Meelo shouted as he pounded on the door with a tiny fist.

Pema’s voice filtered through the wood. “Meelo! _Stop it_ ,” she admonished as a thumping of small feet retreated away. There was another, gentler knock. “Korra? Breakfast is ready, but take your time, okay?”

Korra groaned as she sat up and kicked the tangled blanket off the bed. Her stiff limbs complained even more loudly than they had yesterday. There were muscles sore that Korra didn’t even know existed. Her head was clearer and less heavy though, which was a huge relief. Korra stood and rolled her neck a few times, sighing as it loosened and popped.

There was a set of clothes neatly folded on a dresser. As much as she would rather not wear robes identical to the ones the children wore, she was grateful for the clean clothes. She slipped into them and inspected herself in the mirror. She didn’t think they really suited her, but they were baggy and comfortable, and most importantly, not caked in blood.

Korra hadn’t been given directions to the dining room, but it turned out that she didn’t need any. A cacophony of sound echoed through the temple and she was able to find the source easily enough.

But as soon as she crossed into the room, all sound abruptly stopped and every head turned to look at her. Meelo was perched on top of the table, threatening Bumi with a pair of chopsticks. The girls were mid-argument, their mouths agape. Tenzin, Pema and Kya didn’t looked fazed in the least. “Have a seat, Korra. Help yourself.” Pema gestured to the spread of food on the table.

Meelo blew himself off the table with a swirl of air and returned to his seat as Jinora scooted to the side, putting space between her and Ikki. “You can sit next to us,” she offered.

“Yeah! Sit next to us! You must be _way_ more fun than Jinora is.” Ikki patted the space and pointedly ignored Jinora’s glare.

Korra slotted herself in between them and Jinora handed her a set of chopsticks. Korra hadn’t realized how famished she was. She immediately plucked a dumpling from the center of the table and stuffed it into her mouth, forgoing her own plate entirely. She hardly had time to savor the first one before shoving a second dumpling in her mouth and suppressing a euphoric groan. It was _delicious_.

“Did you sleep well?” Tenzin asked politely as he sipped from a tea cup.

Ikki turned to her. “Yeah, did you sleep okay? You must have been _really_ tired after yesterday but then last night after everyone went to bed I thought I heard someone crying which is pretty weird so I thought that maybe it was you?”

“ _Ikki_ ,” Jinora hissed.

Korra swallowed her dumpling with a grimace. “It’s okay,” she said patiently. “I slept fine, thanks Ikki.”

Ikki looked as if she had something more to say but at that moment Kya swiped a dumpling from her plate and Ikki had more important things to worry about.

Tenzin cleared his throat awkwardly over the sound of Ikki’s protestations. “So, Korra. I was thinking we could begin your training today with a little meditation.”

“Oh,” Korra said around a mouthful. “I was actually looking forward to learning how to airbend? You know, get a crash course.”

Tenzin nodded understandingly. “Yes, and we will get to that. But the spiritual side of being an airbender, and the Avatar, is just as important and I think we should start there.”

Korra shrugged. “Well okay, if you think so. You’re the master.”

Tenzin seemed pleased. “Yes, wonderful. That goes for all of you,” Tenzin addressed the kids. “As soon as you’re finished eating we’ll all go out to the pagoda. How does that sound?” Meelo and Ikki both groaned, and Korra bit her lip to keep from smiling.

By the time Korra had filled her stomach to the point of bursting, the kids had already gone outside. Pema smiled serenely when Korra thanked her. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“It was probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

Pema laughed. “I’m pretty sure you already said that. Last night, in fact, when you hadn’t eaten in days.” Korra grinned sheepishly. “But thank you,” Pema said as she patted Korra’s arm lightly. It felt motherly and comforting, and it suddenly filled Korra with such intense longing that she forced herself to march outside before Pema could notice her watery eyes.

The temple and surrounding mountains were bathed in light, throwing every feature into stark relief compared to what she had glimpsed the night before. She squinted against the sun’s rays as she tried to take everything in. Her skin prickled in the sun and it reminded her of the heat of the propulsion room on Republic, but less stifling and more comforting, like a blanket.

“Over here, Korra.” Tenzin waved her over. He and the kids were seated under a tiny decorative building without walls. The pagoda, Korra figured. “This is a very simple exercise,” he said as she joined them. “Simply relax and clear your mind. Breathe in, breathe out.”

Korra nodded determinedly. “Okay, no problem.” She sank to the stone floor and mirrored their sitting positions, her legs crossed and fists together.

Breathe in, breathe out.

It took two minutes and fourteen seconds for Korra to become bored, but it felt like a lifetime.

Korra cracked open an eye and cast a sidelong glance at the kids. With the exception of Meelo, who was snoring softly, the kids were as unmoving as Tenzin was. Korra sighed. “I think I’m doing it wrong.”

“There’s nothing _to do_ ,” Tenzin mused without opening his eyes. “Just let your mind and spirit be free, for air is the element of freedom.”

A loud snort of derision came from behind Korra and she watched Tenzin’s eyebrows pinch together. “Can I _help_ you, Bumi?”

“Who, me? No, no. I was just passing through,” Bumi said innocently.

Tenzin’s mouth fell further from a frown to a deep scowl, but his tone remained light. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind leaving us in peace so we can get back to our meditation…?”

“Oh, don’t let me keep you! I wouldn’t want to interrupt your _freedom_.”

Tenzin’s jaw flexed under the strain of keeping his mouth shut while Bumi languidly wandered away. The tension settled after a moment and when Tenzin’s face relaxed back into stoicism Korra reluctantly let her eyes fall closed again.

Breathe in, breathe out.

“ _Krrrzzkk—eather is fair on the surface, with a meteor shower later today. In sports news_ —”

“Bumi! _Do you mind_?” Tenzin grit out.

“Nope, not at all! You can stay there, it doesn’t bother me,” Bumi said mockingly as he fiddled with the antenna of the radio.

Korra felt the air flutter around her and Tenzin rose to his feet. “Bumi, shut that radio off _please_. It’s very distracting.”

“Why? We get the best signal over here. Do you have claim over this side of the temple? I thought air was the element of _freedom_.”

Tenzin huffed and began to stalk over as the radio continued to chirp, “ _The Fire Ferrets were struck another hard blow today as_ — _kkkrrzzzk—Korra—kkrrrk—facing Xuan Wu—_ ”

Wait, _what?_

“Wha—” Korra began just as the signal became clear again.

“ _Sorry about that folks, if you’ve been tuning in recently you know that this weird message keeps repeating on our frequency every couple of hours and we have no idea where it’s coming from! Oooohh, spooky, right? The powers that be at Ba Sing Se Radio are desperate to get it to stop but I say let it go on! You can’t stop the signal, man!_ ”

Korra had no idea when she had risen to her feet and sprinted past Tenzin. “Korra, what—?”

“Did—did you hear that? Bumi, you heard that, right?”

“That the eerie radio message just _said your name?_ ” Bumi said excitedly, as if he were watching a particularly thrilling mover.

Korra grabbed the radio, holding it closer and twisting the antennas haphazardly, as if it would make the message return. “It repeats! It repeats, right?”

“I believe he said that it repeats every few hours.” Tenzin put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Do you think Republic is trying to contact you?”

“Yes, yes…” Korra said as she sank to her knees and held the radio to her chest like a lifeline. “It was Asami, it has to be…”

“Ooohhh, who’s _Asami?_ ” Ikki asked, suddenly appearing at Korra’s side.

Korra answered without thinking. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“ _Awwww_ ,” Jinora and Ikki cooed simultaneously.

Korra blanched immediately. “I mean, my friend. My _girl_ friend. My friend. Who is a girl.”

Tenzin ignored his daughters and asked, “Why do you think it was her?”

Korra turned her attention back to the radio in her arms. “She’s definitely the only one on Republic that could do it. And Xuan Wu, that means something to me. To us.”

Jinora sighed. “That’s so _romantic_.”

Korra blushed. “It’s just… we’re friends.” She set the radio down on the ground, but didn’t move to stand. “So when will it come back? The message?”

Bumi stroked his beard. “Who knows? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

And so for the next three hours, the radio sat on the dining room table as Korra bore a hole through it with her eyes. The kids had gotten bored a mere half hour into the vigil, with the exception of Jinora, who had lasted another two hours before giving up as well.

Bumi, on the other hand, was content to be patient and wait. He sat against the opposite wall, not speaking, just listening to the radio with Korra.

Finally, at the three hour and and twenty three minute mark and right in the middle of a particularly terrible song—it was the _fourth_ time it had been played and if Korra didn’t hate the song the first time, she certainly did now—the message returned.

“ _Korra, boost—signal you—facing—kkrrrzzkk—_ ”

Korra and Bumi sprung into action as the radio station jockey continued to prattle on about ‘the man’ and ‘society today.’ Korra picked up the pencil in front of her and wrote while Bumi looked on. “ _Korra. Boost. Signal. You. Facing. Xuan. Wu,_ ” Korra recited aloud.

“What does Xuan Wu mean to you?” Bumi asked.

Korra looked up at him. “The constellation, the Black Warrior. You know it?”

“Yes, of _course!_ ” Bumi said with bravado. “He was a great hunter and god. Once, when I was a commander in the armed forces, my platoon and I were lost in the Si Wong desert with no hope of rescue! And one of my men, Arik, he thought he was reincarnation of—”

“So you know it!” Korra interrupted impatiently after it became clear that Bumi was going to take a while to get to the point. “All those books were true…”

Bumi looked disappointed that he hadn’t been able to tell of his grand adventure, but he didn’t continue, instead asking, “What are you supposed to do with a constellation?”

“Well there’s a signal I need to boost…” Korra said slowly as she considered.

“And you must already have the means to do so,” Bumi mused.

Korra’s brow furrowed. “What signal, Asami?” she wondered aloud.

“Did you come with a radio or something?”

_Oh._

“The escape pod radio!” Korra exclaimed, standing up so fast her paper and pencil went flying. “I have to get back there!” Korra sprinted out of the room and was halfway across the courtyard when she realized.

“Uh, how do I get down from here?” Korra timidly asked when she returned to the dining room.

Bumi grinned as he produced a wooden whistle from his pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the length of this chapter. I try to keep them under 8k, but didn't quite manage it this time. This is the longest chapter I've written so far, if that's any consolation.
> 
> The return of references! [Here](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/post/143458585290/weightless-chpt-4-notes) is more information about Xuan Wu, which is a real thing, as well as a disclaimer about how I used him incorrectly.
> 
> osmrice=Fav (smol*gay/beta^2)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometimes a haiku  
> is just a simple poem  
> sometimes it means more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [13-16](https://open.spotify.com/user/golarisa/playlist/4pRCjIP2FzpCfZueqCCEcA)

_Asami loved her classes and she was used to excelling in them._ Every single one _, much to Korra’s disbelief and annoyance. Asami really,_ really _did not want to admit that this might be the class that would change that. That this might be the subject she just didn’t quite_ get _._

 _She simply didn’t understand the_ point _of poetry. Why couldn’t the author just say what they meant? Why seep their message in metrical rhymes and symbolism? Asami stared down at her textbook and read the same haiku for the fifth time in as many minutes._

Through the long night  
Winter glows with bright love  
Sleet her silver tears

 _Asami ran her fingers through her hair and toyed with the end of a strand. She was trying to follow Professor Aiwei’s words, she really was, but none of it made any sense. He explained that ‘night’ was when people were asleep, but on Republic everyone operated on different schedules depending on their job. People slept when they could. Did that mean that it was_ never _night, or_ always _night?_

 _What was ‘winter’, and how did it relate to ‘sleet’? Aiwei claimed that sleet was like ice, but then why didn’t the author just_ say _ice?_

 _What good did learning poetry do, anyway? It didn’t affect their survival, or their progress. Asami’s time would have been better spent learning literally_ anything _else._

_Aiwei cleared his throat loudly and set down his chalk. “Now, each of you take a few minutes to write your own haikus. I want to see a few from each of you by the end of class.”_

_Asami frowned and let out a long, frustrated breath. This was going to be a long semester._

_She ducked her head down and got to work. Or she tried to, anyway; what could she possibly write about?_

_Distantly, Asami heard the door of the classroom slide open and Aiwei’s voice, laced with irritation, broke through her concentration. “Can I help you, Korra?”_

_Asami’s head whipped up and she found Korra’s eyes instantly. Korra gave her a small smile before handing Aiwei a sheet of laminate. “I, uh, I’m taking this class now.”_

_“Surely the council must have better things for you to do; perhaps some pipes to bend or some fires to set,” Aiwei deadpanned as he scanned the note._

_“See, that’s what I thought too,” Korra said with a convincingly friendly smile, “but apparently not.”_

_Aiwei huffed, “Fine, find a seat.” Korra smile stretched when her gaze found Asami again, and Asami hastily shoved her notebooks aside to make room at her table._

_Korra threw down her battered, bursting bag and dug around for the correct textbook. She opened it and its new pages creaked as she flipped a few pages. “Fancy meeting you here!” she said quietly._

_“Not that it isn’t great to see you, but what_ are _you doing here?” Asami asked._

_Korra propped her chin on a hand and grimaced. “I made fun of my dad’s favorite author and he said I needed to get ‘cultured’ or whatever.” Korra rolled her eyes but then smiled genuinely. “I didn’t know you’d be here though, so this is already turning out better than I thought!”_

_That made Asami feel warm. She was feeling better about the class as well._

_“So, what are we doing?” Korra craned her neck to look at Asami’s notes._

_Asami dismissively pushed them towards Korra._ “Poetry,” _she said with disdain._

_Korra side eyed her for a moment, clearly surprised at her venom, before glancing over the notes. After a moment she asked, “What’s ‘winter’?”_

_Asami made a face and gave an exaggerated shrug. “No one knows, especially not Aiwei.”_

_Korra snickered and slid the notes back across the table to Asami. “Okay, this doesn’t seem that hard. Just five, seven, five.”_

_“It’s…” Asami pursed her lips and cast a wary eye at Aiwei, who was speaking to another student nearby. She ducked her head towards Korra and breathed, “It’s_ dumb _,” like it was a curse._

_Korra bit her lip to keep from smiling before she leaned down to dig around in her bag. She produced a pencil, its metal body pockmarked with evidence of Korra’s teeth. After a glance at Aiwei, she started to scribble in her textbook. Asami tried to get a glimpse of what she was writing, but Korra noticed and stuck her tongue out petulantly as she covered her work with her free hand. Asami leaned back and crossed her arms with a sneer._

_Korra had to stop a few times to count on her fingers but it wasn’t long before she grinned and pushed the textbook towards Asami. In the margins Korra had written a haiku._

don’t pout Asami  
we’ll get through this together  
it can’t be that bad

_Asami’s mouth dropped open in indignation. Korra was doing her best to contain her laughter, but a squeak slipped out when Asami snatched the pencil from her fingers._

I am NOT pouting

_Korra looked positively gleeful when she took the pencil back and added two lines under Asami’s._

yes you definitely are  
it’s adorable

_Asami narrowed her eyes in a challenge as she pulled the textbook back and picked up her own pencil._

You think you’re so smart  
Just because you’re pretty good  
At pointless poems

_Korra covered her mouth just a fraction of a second too late and snorted loudly into her hand. Professor Aiwei whirled around to glare at her, and Korra exaggeratingly wrinkled her nose. “Excuse me.”_

_Korra looked so earnest, so convincing that Asami had to turn away to keep from laughing. She didn’t turn back until she heard the textbook slide across the table again and felt Korra’s fingers brush lightly against her elbow. She looked down at Korra’s note._

i don’t think he likes me much

_Asami smirked and added her own note._

I can’t imagine why

_She cast another look at Aiwei before beginning to doodle an unflattering picture of him, highlighting his bald head and expressionless face. She drew a speech bubble coming from his mouth and wrote, ‘Don’t you have pipes to bend?’_

_Korra couldn’t stop her loud chortle in time._

_“Korra? Do you have something you’d like to share?” Aiwei asked mildly._

_“Oh, no sir. That’s okay,” Korra said with a casual wave of her hand._

_Aiwei’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you share your haiku with the rest of the class? I assume Ms Sato has informed you of what a haiku is, since you two have been talking.”_

_“Yes, sir…”_

_“Go on then,” Aiwei insisted. “Stand up.”_

_Korra shot Asami a panicked look at Asami as she stood, but once she straightened it was gone, replaced by a stoicism rivaling Aiwei’s. Her eyes roamed, however, casting about for inspiration._

_“Uh... writing poetry…” Asami could see Korra’s fingers flexing at her side as she counted her next line. “Must be fulfilling for some,” Korra’s eyes flicked down at the textbook and on the same breath she rushed out, “I’d rather bend pipes?”_

_Aiwei’s face twitched violently and Asami braced herself for an oncoming storm, but after a long stretch of silence, Aiwei’s mouth gave the slightest of quirks. “Not bad.”_

 

—

 

By the time she reached the council chambers, Asami was really beginning to regret that fifth cup of coffee. Her prickling skin and buzzing mind were making it hard to concentrate on any one thing for too long. Maybe she should have listened to Mako when he had suggested that she at least take a nap before the meeting. Maybe she should have listened to Bolin when he had suggested that she postpone the meeting. She’d dismissed the idea immediately; Tonraq had pulled a lot of strings to get her in to see the council on such short notice.

That nap though, maybe not the worst idea.

Regardless, it was too late for that now and Asami needed to focus. She looked down at her armful of laminates and star charts and tried to clear her head. After this she could sleep. After this.

“Asami?”

She raised her head and blinked to clear the fog. Tonraq looked similarly exhausted, but he still smiled with the same warmth, the same quirk of the lips that she’d grown so fond of. The reflection of Korra was comforting. “Tonraq,” she greeted with a nod.

He eyed the mess in her arms but didn’t comment, instead asking, “Ready?”

Asami blew a stray lock of hair away from her face and summoned every ounce of confidence she could from her frayed mind. “Definitely.”

“They’re ready for you then,” he said as he approached the ornate, metal door. It slid open and they entered the large, oval room. The platformed metal bench stretched along the curve of the opposite wall. Seated behind it were the other members of the council and President Raiko. Tonraq rounded the bench and took the seat furthest to Asami’s right.

There was a small desk in the middle of the room and Asami unceremoniously dumped her armload onto the table. She was too tired to really worry about being graceful about it. She ignored the chairs by the desk and stayed standing while she let her eyes travel over each council member. “Good day,” she said with a respectful nod.

Tonraq was seated next to Izumi, the firebender representative. Asami had only spoken to her a handful of times, but like her son, Iroh, she was serious and polite, if never quite as warm.

In the middle was Raiko, the President of Republic, who Asami knew to be shrewd and short-tempered, but well-meaning enough. Asami had never had the desire to seek a council seat like her father. She found the politics game exhausting and ridiculous, but she knew Raiko played it well.

Su, the earthbender representative, was seated on the other side of Raiko. Asami had worked with Su and her husband, Baatar, on transponders before Baatar Jr had taken over. Asami sometimes missed her kindness; her son was talented, but not quite as well humored. Su smiled warmly at Asami and she found herself mirroring it, despite her weariness.

Lastly, on the far left of the room sat Asami’s father. He looked pleasantly surprised to see her, but Asami knew that he took his position on the council very seriously and that he would not acknowledge her with familiarity until after the meeting was over.

“What’s this about, Ms Sato?” Raiko asked with a glance towards her father. “Hiroshi?”

Asami’s father shook his head. “I haven’t the slightest idea, Mr President.”

Asami began collecting a few of her notes from the desk. “This is regarding Ko—” She paused before correcting herself. “Regarding Republic’s trajectory.”

There was a slight shift in the room as all eyes drifted to Izumi. The firebenders were in charge of the flight deck and the propulsion room; this was directly related to Izumi’s department. To her credit, Izumi seemed to not notice the attention. She merely met Asami’s gaze with cool interest and blinked slowly.

Asami barrelled onwards. “As you know, we have been on a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun. When Korra—er, when the recent escape pod jettison happened I took a look at its trajectory.”

“Cut to the chase if you would, Ms Sato,” Raiko snapped impatiently.

Fine, then.

“I’m happy to, Mr President. The escape pod was pulled out of its vector by a huge planet. Earth, specifically.”

Asami was met with a long beat of total silence until Raiko scoffed loudly. Tonraq and Su wore matching, confused expressions and Asami’s father frowned deeply. Izumi, however, simply sat back, her eyes never leaving Asami’s face.

“That’s preposterous,” Raiko blubbered predictably.

Tonraq looked pained. “Asami, I know this has been hard—”

“What makes you think so?” Izumi interrupted, ignoring Tonraq and the muttering in the room. “Obviously you have proof.”

“Of course,” Asami said with a bite of impatience. She gathered her notes and spread them out in an arc in front of her. “I have all the calculations. I’ve double and triple checked them,” she said with a pointed look at her father. Despite his steely gaze, there was a familiar sparkle in his eyes. “The planet’s mass, its distance from the Sun, it’s all in line for what we have recorded for Earth.”

“Those records are hundreds of years old, how can we be sure of their validity?” Su’s tone was curious, not challenging, but Asami fought the urge to roll her eyes just the same.

“Ignoring the fact that these records, within a very reasonable margin of error, match those of the calculations I’ve made,” Asami said stiffly, “we are also picking up Earth radio waves. We’re even close enough that we are picking them up fairly clearly.”

Asami heard her father’s barely suppressed guffaw and allowed herself a small, satisfied smile at Raiko’s bewildered look. “Izumi, did you know about this?” he demanded.

Izumi regarded Raiko coolly. “Did I know about the radio waves?” she said slowly, as if she were speaking to a child. “Iroh had informed me about indistinct signals, but he seemed convinced that it was simply radiation interfering with the equipment.”

“Apparently not,” Su said flatly.

“Is… is that where Korra ended up? On Earth?” Tonraq asked quietly. The room stilled.

Asami wasn’t sure how to respond. “It does seem that the escape pod was pulled towards Earth…” she said carefully.

“We’ll of course have to review your calculations,” Hiroshi said with an expectant hand outstretched. Asami walked over and handed him her laminates. “And hear this radio frequency for ourselves, but if what you say is true then we’ll have to reconvene immediately to decide how to proceed.”

“What is there to decide?” Tonraq asked incredulously. “We make contact—we see if Korra’s alive!”

“It’s been five hundred years, Tonraq,” Izumi drawled. “We have no idea what has happened in that time. We need to gather as much information as we can before we make that kind of decision—together.”

Asami decided to keep the fact that she was already attempting to contact Earth to herself, but felt a pang of guilt as she watched Tonraq unclench his jaw and nod stiffly.

“Thank you, Asami, for bringing this to our attention,” Su said seriously. “We’ll address this immediately.”

Asami knew she was being dismissed. “Thank you for your time.”

Asami didn’t have to wait outside the chamber doors for long before most of the council members filed out. Tonraq hurried past, a frown firmly in place. Asami wanted to tell him about her efforts to find Korra, to give him at least that, but she couldn’t risk being overheard. Instead, she exchanged a few polite words with Su before slipping back inside of the council chambers.

Her father was still bowed over her notes with a faint smile on his lips. “Your math is correct,” he said by way of greeting.

“Of course it is,” Asami said shortly. “It was just a formality anyway. The radio waves are from Ba Sing Se, an Earth colony. Proof enough.”

“Your due diligence is appreciated,” her father said with a proud smile that faded quickly as he met her eyes. “How are you?” he asked with sincerity.

She almost laughed, but instead she simply gave him the reassurance she always did. “I’m fine.”

“You’re tired,” he observed as he moved a hand to her cheek, as if he could use a thumb to wipe away the bags under eyes. She pulled away.

“I’m fine,” she repeated dismissively. “Are you coming up to listen to the radio now? I was just heading back.”

He shook his head. “No, maybe later. I don’t need to hear it to know you’re right. I am, however, interested in imagery. Where are you on that?”

“I’ve sent out several transponders for mapping, but I’m hoping now that I have the council’s cooperation, Izumi will give me access to the flight deck’s telescopes.”

He frowned. “Why don’t you let her take care of that? You need to rest.”

Asami bit her lip. “I… I would rather be there.”

Her father nodded slowly in understanding. “Fine. I’ll speak to Izumi if you promise me you’ll get some sleep, at least. Agreed?”

Asami sighed.

 _“Agreed?”_ he repeated emphatically.

“Yes, okay. Agreed,” she reluctantly conceded.

“Good,” he said with a satisfied smile as he spun on a heel. “I’ll send word as soon as I speak to her. Good work, Asami.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly to his back as he left the room.

Asami bypassed her bunk room in favor of returning to her workbench. Despite what she had told her father, now was not the time to rest. She had the radio signal repeating every few hours, but it was unreliable. There was often interference and, depending on Ba Sing Se’s position around Earth, occasionally the signal simply didn’t make it through. She needed more accuracy so she could more reliably send out the message that was the only lifeline she could offer to Korra.

“Asami?”

Asami jumped, startled. Senna was waiting for her outside of the department, looking timid and just as exhausted as Tonraq had earlier. “Senna! Is everything alright?”

“Yes, yes,” she reassured quickly. “Only, I’m hoping you’ll do me a favor.”  
  


—  
  


There was just so much. So much movement, so much color, so much _life_. Korra had known, of course, the moment she had left the confines of the escape pod that the planet was beautiful and vibrant. But it wasn’t until just then, perched on the edge of Oogi’s saddle and watching the ground move beneath her, that Korra realized just how _dense_ Earth was.

It was bursting with plants of every color, and animals that would look up to gaze at the enormous animal—an air bison, apparently—as they flew past. As anxious as Korra was to get back to the escape pod, she couldn’t help but lose herself in her surroundings. It was fascinating and terrifying.

Bumi had taken Oogi’s reigns and he had to shout against the wind to be heard. “Are we getting close?”

Korra shrugged, distracted, before remembering that Bumi couldn’t see her. “I think so, but I’m not exactly familiar with the area. We should have asked Jinora to come with us.”

“Actually, I think we found it,” Bumi remarked dryly as the dense canopy of trees started to show the telltale signs of Korra’s landing: the cracked branches and felled trees; the long trail of mud and flung soil; the white escape pod, splattered with brown.

Oogi settled a short distance away from the escape pod and Korra did a significantly better job at disembarking than she had the night before. Bumi was already on the ground, several steps ahead of Korra when he suddenly stopped. He put an arm out in warning. “Wha—” Korra began just before she heard the noise too.

“You hear that?” Bumi asked under his breath without taking his eyes from the escape pod.

Korra nodded slowly. “What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, an animal, maybe?”

Korra’s eyes widened and she grasped Bumi’s shoulder. “Last night Jinora and I were attacked by a… dark spirit? I think that’s what she called it. Maybe it’s one of those?”

“Maybe,” Bumi mused. “Most dark spirits only really come out at night. Still, we should be careful.”

Korra really wanted nothing to do with any more spirits, especially the one from the night before, but she _had_ to get that radio. “You’d better stay back,” she said as she cracked her knuckles. “I’m going to take a look.”

Bumi gave her an indignant, angry look. “Hey, I may not be a _bender_ , but I’m still a soldier. I can take care of myself, thank you very much!”

“Shh!” Korra hissed. “It’ll hear you!”

The sounds from the escape pod were becoming louder. There was broken, distorted music echoing from within, accompanied by frantic squeaking and the sound of movement. Whatever was inside, it was excited about something.

She and Bumi approached cautiously and Bumi whispered, “I’m going to go around to the other side and make sure we aren’t flanked by our enemies.” Before Korra could ask what ‘flanked’ meant, Bumi had flattened himself as best as he could against the curved hull of the escape pod and started to inch around it.

Korra stared after him, unsure of what to do as she waited. Bumi had disappeared from view and the eerie noises coming from the escape pod were only intensifying. She felt ready though, and well rested. She would put up a much better fight than she had yesterday.

Bumi slid around from the other side of the escape pod and gave a thumbs up with his free hand. In his other hand he held a thick tree branch, most of its leaves still attached. “All clear. Gimme a boost?”

Korra gave him a single nod and set her feet. She hadn’t noticed before, but earthbending was considerably easier on, well, Earth. She could feel every rock and clump of dirt responding to her and she easily bent a thin pillar of earth up from beneath them, propelling both her and Bumi into the air.

Korra landed on one hatch, tugging a large rock behind her, as Bumi landed across from her. He brandished his stick high above him and shouted, “Hah!” as he leaned over the hatch to look inside the escape pod.

His shout echoed throughout the pod as he and Korra peered down into the chamber. Within, five small creatures with large, flat feet and long ears turned to shoot them what could have only been five dirty looks. Bumi’s war cry died in his throat. “Eh?” he muttered in confusion.

They had the same incorporeal forms as the dark spirit from the night before, but they looked considerably more friendly, the dirty looks notwithstanding. They continued to stare at the intruders, but made no move to attack.

“Aww, they’re so cute!” Bumi exclaimed.

All of the creatures were sitting on their haunches and facing the hull where Nuktuk: Hero of the South The Musical was still playing. The image was breaking down badly and the sound of the music was even more warped than it had been when Korra left, as if the radio was simply losing the will to continue playing the mover on a loop.

Korra couldn’t blame it.

The spirits fluttered their ears and Korra reflexively clenched her fist, ready to launch the rock in their direction. But the spirits only drifted smoothly up to join them outside. They _were_ cute, all round fluffy faces and colorful fur. The spirits hovered around their heads and one of them—the blue one—approached Bumi. “I think this one likes me!” Bumi said excitedly as he gently took the creature into his arms.

The other spirits continued to hover around Korra, clearly curious about her. “Uh, hello…”

They chirped lightly at her greeting. Korra fought to maintain her balance as they fluttered close to her, beneath her arms and around her legs. She didn’t want to hurt them. “I’m just gonna…” Korra kneeled next to the open hatch while Bumi, completely preoccupied with his new friend, ignored her.

The last thing Korra wanted to do was get back into the damn escape pod, but there was no getting around it. She lowered herself inside and easily hung from the hatch before dropping straight down. She landed heavily, but much less violently than she had before. She couldn’t help but smile a little. Maybe this gravity wasn’t so bad.

The spirits—other than Bumi’s new friend—had followed her inside and were watching her closely. She looked up at the radio and reached out, bending the screws that attached it to the hull. When it became loose enough she tore the device from the hull and the image of Nuktuk sputtered and died. The spirits chittered loudly in aggrieved surprise and flitted around Korra’s head.

Korra waved them off impatiently. “I’m sorry, but I need this! Besides, you know Nuktuk wins in the end, he always does!”

With a final, angry squawk, the spirits flew back out of the pod, leaving Korra to lower the radio carefully to the ground. “Hey, Bumi?”

Bumi’s face appeared at the hatch. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to throw this up to you, okay?”

“Got it!” Bumi disappeared from the hatch. “Watch out, Bum-Ju, step—uh, fly back a little.” After a moment he shouted, “Ready!”

Korra hefted the radio up and out of the hatch, and she heard Bumi grunt under its weight.

“You good?” Korra shouted up, her voice ringing through the pod.

“Yeeep! No problem here!” Bumi huffed breathlessly from out of view.

Korra considered how she was going to pull herself out of the escape pod again as her eyes drifted around the pod. In her haste to get the radio, she had forgotten her canisters of water.

Her eyes lingered on the hull.

Aw, fuck it.

Korra tore at the hull, grasping at the welded seams and wrenching them apart. She exposed the thin layer of insulation and radiation shielding and kicked hard, ripping through it easily. She squeezed herself through the long gash she’d created and tumbled out onto the grass, her arms burning and lungs heaving.

“Alright there?” Bumi asked from behind the radio in his arms.

“Yeah,” Korra puffed with a grin. “Never better.”

“Good, ‘cause this thing’s heavy,” Bumi said just before he dropped the radio.

“Ah!” Korra brought her hands up in surprise, just managing to halt the radio before it smashed all over the ground. She lowered it down to the ground slowly with a glare at Bumi. He slid down the length of the pod awkwardly and grimaced apologetically.

Korra ran her hands over the radio. “Okay, what do I need to boost the signal?”

Bumi pulled at his beard in thought. “Well, you’ll need a satellite dish.”

“Yes, okay.” Korra stood and took a few steps towards the escape pod before pulling at the hull again, tearing an entire panel out of its side and bending it into a haphazard, bowl-like shape. “Now what?”

Bumi gave her a long, incredulous look. “Maaaybe we should do this back at the temple. It’s not as if you can see Xuan Wu right now anyway.” He gestured at the Sun, still high in the sky.

“Right…” Korra acknowledged dejectedly.

“Don’t worry kid, we’ll put it together and before you know it, you’ll be talking to your, uh, _friend_.”

Korra gave Bumi a grateful smile, tinged with sadness. She really had no idea if this would work, but she had to believe that Asami was on the other side of this. She clung to that hope like a lifeline.

It seemed as if the entire family had gathered in the courtyard when Korra and Bumi returned to the temple. As soon as Korra brought the radio down from Oogi’s back the kids rushed over. “What’s that? Is it from Republic? It looks _old_. What does it do?” Ikki asked excitedly.

“Soldiers!” Bumi said with booming authority that made all three kids snap to attention. “Listen up! I have a very important mission for each of you.”

Meelo, Ikki and Jinora all stood rigidly and attentively as Bumi stalked back and forth in front of them. “We have until nightfall to make this,” he gestured to the radio, “into a working satellite radio. And for that we’re going to need some supplies!”

Bumi stopped short in front of Meelo. “Meelo! You’re on wire duty. I need two wires, about arms length. That’s my arm, not your arm, son!”

“Yes, _sir!_ ” Meelo said with a dramatic salute, his posture as stiff as possible.

“Ikki!” Bumi continued down the line. “Your mission is to find a feed horn. It’s, uh, something metal about this,”—he indicated with his fingers—“long. I need it to feed the signal to the dish. Got it?”

Ikki saluted a little less formally than Meelo had, but with just as much enthusiasm. “I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but okay!”

“Jinora, I need you to find a stand to attach everything to.”

Jinora deflated a little and frowned. “That’s all? Okay…”

“Very good. Dismissed!” Bumi announced with a wave of his hand and the kids all scattered in different directions. He turned to Korra. “Let’s get started. Think you can smooth out that dish into less of… well, less?”

Korra chuckled. “Yeah, I can do that.” She carefully molded her crude satellite dish from its mangled state into a smooth, rounded disk.

Bumi cracked open the back of the escape pod radio and fiddled with a few wires. “Oh man, this is _ancient_ ,” he observed just before a loud spark forced him to jerk his hand out of the panel.

The radio lights flickered and came to life. _“Hello!”_ a familiar voice greeted.

“Oh, _no_ ,” Korra breathed in disbelief.

_“Welcome to Varrick Galactic Industries’ Luxury Space Capsule! My name is Varrick and I’ll be your host for this evening’s spontaneous jettison.”_

“Wow, it talks!” Bumi exclaimed in disbelief and excitement.

Korra grabbed Bumi’s shoulders and shook him roughly. “Make it stop Bumi, _make it stop!_ ”

 _“Our sensors indicate that you have—_ Removed. Unit. From. Capsule— _If this is the case, congratulations! You must be at step five of my hair care regimen! In order to proceed you will need your very own can of Varrick’s Varri-manageable Hair Pomade!”_

A small panel at the top of the radio unit popped open with a click and a flurry of confetti fired out of the revealed panel as a thin, metal arm abruptly swung out. At the end of the arm was a tiny tin. “Ooh!” Bumi exclaimed as he pried the tin from the arm. Relieved of its package, the arm swung back into place and the panel snapped closed again.

_“Unit is not labeled for individual sale. Varrick’s Varri-manageable Hair Pomade is intended for home use only. Product may cause skin irritation, internal bleeding, hair loss—”_

Bumi reached inside the radio and yanked on several wires, cutting the recording short with a crackle. Korra sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

“Uncle Bumi!” Jinora called as she approached. “Will this work?” she asked as she held out a metal stake, clearly pulled from the garden.

“That’ll work nicely, thank you Jinora.” Bumi took the stake from her and began to run wires from the radio up its length.

“I got the food horn!” Ikki shouted as she ran from inside the temple, holding a metal ladle aloft.

Bumi accepted it from her as well. “I, erm, guess that will work… nice job, soldier!” Ikki beamed. “Now, where’s Meelo with those wires?”

“Right here!” Meelo answered as he sidled up to Bumi and held out two long, copper wires. “Will these work?”

“Wow, Meelo!” Bumi smiled as he inspected the wires. “These are perfect! Where’d you get ‘em?”

“Over there!” Meelo pointed across the courtyard to where Kya was glaring at the group, a mangled, sparking radio at her feet.

Bumi and Korra winced simultaneously. “Thank you… Meelo…” Bumi said slowly. “Good job kids… you’d, uh, better go.”

It didn’t take long for Bumi to construct a somewhat passable satellite radio, especially with Korra’s metalbending. “It isn’t pretty, but it should work.”

“Thank you, Bumi,” Korra said seriously. “I couldn’t have done this without you. Now I just need to figure out where Xuan Wu is.”

“I can help you with that when night falls, but it should be towards the north,” he said as he headed back towards the temple. “I’ll go grab us some dinner while we wait.”

Korra nodded and looked up at the sky. It would be dark soon, but not soon enough. She just hoped that when it was, Asami was listening.

Pema’s voice drifted in from the temple. “Bumi, have you seen my ladle?”  
  


—  
  


Asami did not want to do this. She could think of few things that she wanted to do less. But Senna had asked and so there Asami was, sitting on Korra’s bunk and gathering her courage.

“Population control came and asked me to clear out Korra’s locker. They need the bed for someone else…” Senna told her, clearly heartbroken. “I didn’t want to tell Tonraq. He would just raise a fuss… but… I don’t think I could bring myself to do it either.”

Asami didn’t know what to say. As much as she didn’t want to be faced with removing Korra’s presence from her bunk room entirely, she knew she couldn’t allow Senna to bury her child in such a manner.

So Asami would, even if she believed in her heart that Korra was still alive.

“Of course, Senna. I’ll take care of it,” Asami reassured her despite the heaviness in her chest.

Senna looked very small when she took Asami’s hand. “Thank you.”

Asami had wanted to delay the task as long as possible, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Besides, it was Prime Shift; most of the waterbenders would be out of the bunk room, working, so Asami carried a box into the bunk room and went to Korra’s bunk as if by instinct.

Population control had already unlocked Korra’s locker and it opened on squeaking hinges. Korra must have just had her laundry delivered before the jettison because her uniforms were all cleanly pressed and hung on the left side of the locker. On the right, in the cubbies, were hastily folded casual clothes and underwear, which Asami immediately grabbed and stuffed into the box.

Asami diligently picked up the strewn about hair ties and bits of chalk. There were a few books, their thin pages worn and sometimes torn. They were books she recognized, stolen from the library and obviously read several times. In between the propped up books were several training scrolls for each of the elements. Asami let her eyes linger on them, recognizing some of Korra within the moves. Asami smiled as she placed them into the box, in spite of herself.

Behind the books and scrolls were several packets of nuts and dried fruit, hidden away. Asami huffed a gentle laugh. Of course Korra would have found a way to steal from the kitchens.

The bottom of the locker was messier, a graveyard of Korra’s less useful belongings. There were a pair of old, soft boots that had definitely seen better days. A backpack that Asami recognized as the one Korra had used in school. It hung open, its zipper long broken. There was a discarded uniform crumpled next to them, and Asami placed it inside the box as well.

When she lifted the backpack, however, she found it heavier than she’d expected. Curious, she set the bag down to take a look, and her breath caught in her throat.

It was an old textbook, its cover instantly recognizable even though Asami hadn’t seen it in years. She tugged it out of the bag almost reverently and opened it across her lap as she sat on the floor.

The book’s pages were absolutely covered in familiar doodles and notes and, very occasionally, poems.

_this is the dumbest_  
_does it get him off to waste  
_ _our time and our youth_

_Hey, do you think you can help me with a project later?_

_does this have something to do with metalbending a thing onto another thing_

_Maybe  
_ _That’s called welding, by the way._

_i would rather be_  
_helping you weld contraptions  
_ _than reading poems_

_Oh, that’s flattering_

_i do try_

_Would after class work_  
_The project’s due tomorrow  
_ _Please please please please please_

_i can’t believe it_  
_Asami procrastinated?  
_ _can we get snacks first?_

_That was eight syllables_

_bite me Asami_  
_i thought you wanted my help  
_ _apparently not_

_No no no no I’m sorry point taken  
_ _I still have ration cards from yesterday we can cash in_

_you know exactly how to buy my love_

Asami's palm itched as she flipped through the pages and let herself be transported back to the class, one of the only ones she had ever had with Korra, and by far the most fun. Asami never did quite get the hang of poetry, but that class had been well worth the blemish on her grades.

Asami ran her fingers over the textured paper—all of the books were printed on hemp, instead of the usual laminate that the departments normally used—and it flaked a bit against her touch. She had to catch an errant tear before it splattered on a page and she shut the book with a snap, unwilling to be found sobbing next to Korra’s bed.

Asami stuffed the rest of the items from Korra’s locker into the box, but left the textbook on top. She doubted Korra’s parents would mind if Asami kept it.

The box really wasn’t heavy. Asami felt sick when she realized that all of the things Korra owned, all of her physical presence, could be erased just like that. She could be packed away in a single, small box and pushed into the back of a closet to be forgotten.

Asami could have taken the box directly back to Korra’s parents, but she decided to take a detour back to her department. It was dark inside and Asami flicked on the light to illuminate the front room. Her eyes drifted over her console automatically, looking for the flash of light that would indicate that the radio had received something, _anything_ , from the escape pod radio. But just as it had been the last few days, it was dim.

At that point the effects of her fifth cup of coffee had long since left her, leaving Asami even more fragile and worn than before. She grimaced when she considered the old, cold dregs of what was left in the coffee pot, but she wasn’t sure if she really had it in her to make more.

She poured what she could into her mug, but as soon as she took a sip, only to spit it back into the cup, Asami found the energy to make a new pot.

As her sixth cup of coffee brewed, Asami leaned against the counter and let her eyes fall closed. They burned with exhaustion. She rubbed her temple with her fingertips, willing the persistent headache that had been plaguing her for the past few hours to just go away.

Asami knew she was running herself ragged. Everyone had noticed; it was obvious in her clipped speech and glassy gaze. Several people had expressed concern, especially Mako and Bolin. They understood though, and eventually they left her to her own devices.

What they didn’t know was that she _had_ tried to sleep. She had laid in bed and stared at the bunk above her and wished for her mind to quiet. But even after her mind stopped turning over all of the things she could be doing, all Asami was left with was an ache in her chest where Korra should be.

Aside from all the fear and uncertainty, Asami simply _missed_ Korra.

It had taken Korra being literally ejected from Asami’s life for her to realize just how interwoven their lives had been. It wasn’t as if they were always together; they were both busy and occasionally were assigned different shifts. But they’d always made time for each other, or as much as was possible, anyway. Even if it was just the evidence of Korra’s presence, a note with a cartoon drawing on her work bench, or a small bundle of chocolate on her bed, centered her more than she cared to admit.

Now she was missing one of her pillars, and she was off balance.

Her eyes were blurry when she opened them, and she forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat. She tried to ignore the tremble in her fingers as she poured coffee into her mug, but it was getting harder to pretend she was okay.

Asami figured she would spend a few minutes fiddling with the disruptive radio signal before she tried to get into the flight deck. She hadn’t heard from her father yet, but perhaps the Auxiliary Shift would be willing to let her in if she dropped Izumi’s name.

Asami blew on her coffee as she walked back to her workbench, reflexively letting her eyes drag over her console again.

Except this time, the console light was flashing.

Asami froze for several seconds while her body caught up to her electrified brain. Then, she exploded into action. There was a distant crash as she skidded around to the other side of her workbench and seized her headphones, yanking them over her head. “Shit, shit, _shit_ ,” she mumbled as she fiddled with the controls.

For the briefest of moments she wondered where her coffee had gone. Not that she needed it.

There was static as she tuned into the signal, and she listened to the crackle intently, listening for any sign of well, _anything_.

Eventually, Asami heard it. She heard _her_.

_“—and there are a couple of kids, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Rohan. Rohan’s just a baby, but the other kids all know how to airbend, which is just crazy—”_

“Korra! _Korra!_ ” Asami shouted into her headset.

Korra continued as if she hadn’t heard. Her voice was deep and gravelly, but it was definitely Korra. _“—they’re training me to airbend too, but mostly it’s just been meditating and controlling my breathing, which is the most boring thing I can possibly think of…”_

“Korra, can you hear me?” Asami breathed into the headset, relief and apprehension and _frustration_ coursing through her veins in equal measure, making her heart palpitate wildly. Korra was alive, Korra had heard her message, Korra was _right there_ , just on the other side of the radio. Asami wanted to scream.

Korra sighed, and Asami heard shuffling. _“I’m not really sure why I’m telling you this. I hope if I just keep talking, then maybe eventually you’ll hear me. I guess I just… miss you. This has been so insane and I wish you were here…”_

Asami bit her lip, hard. There was a delay. Of course there was a delay, they were millions of miles apart. Maybe the signal was getting through, maybe Korra could hear her. Asami dug around in one of her drawers, looking for a stopwatch.

“Well...” Korra sighed. _“I have no idea if this is even working. I could have just been talking to no one for the past hour. But I hope not. I hope you can hear me and that you know I’m aliv—”_

Asami sat up, the stopwatch clenched in her hand, and just stared at her console as though she could see Korra on the other end of the signal if she tried hard enough.

“Asami?” Korra said sharply. _“Asami is that you? Shit, I can barely hear you, say something else!”_

Asami almost choked on the gleeful laugh that bubbled out of her chest. She threw herself at the console. “Korra! Korra, I’m here, I can hear you.” Asami started the stopwatch.

Korra’s voice began to crackle. _“—sami?_ Fuck! _Can you hear me? I can’t—”_

“Korra, there’s a delay, but I can hear you. _I can hear you_.” Asami cleared her throat and tried to will away the waver from her voice. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? What _happened?_ ”

 _“—maybe there’s a delay…”_ Asami could barely hear Korra, as if her mouth was away from the receiver. After a moment she heard a hard puff of air. _“Hey,_ hey! _I can hear you, just barely.”_ There was a long pause and Asami stopped the stopwatch. Two minutes, twenty seven seconds. _“Yeah, I’m okay! Fuck, Asami, I can’t believe... you have no idea how amazing it is to hear your voice.”_

Asami huffed amusedly. She was pretty sure she knew exactly how amazing it was.

“Korra, the delay is two minutes, twenty seven seconds. I’m… I’m so glad you’re okay, I was going out of my mind. Where are you?”

Two minutes and twenty seven seconds was pure _torture_. But Asami was content listening to Korra’s hard breaths against the receiver while she waited for Korra’s signal to reach her.

_“Okay, that’s not that bad of a delay, I guess. I… don’t really know where I am, but I’m safe. I’m at this temple… Shit, Asami, there’s so much, I don’t know where to begin. Earth is incredible.”_

“What’s a ‘temple’?” Asami asked under her breath before she dismissed the thought. It didn’t matter. “Okay, okay, I don’t know how long our connection will last, but if you can figure out where you are on Earth, I can make the connection more reliable.”

_“I know I’m in the north, but I’ll have to go find someone to be more specific. Do you need me to ask anything else?”_

“No! No, not right now, don’t worry about it. Don’t… don’t go yet, please. I’ll find you again, later. Right now I just want to… I just want to hear you. You’re actually alive. I’m not dreaming?”

Korra chuckled. Asami shut her eyes at the sound and felt tears trail down her cheeks. _“I really, really hope you’re not—”_ Static started to cover up the sound of Korra’s words. _“—you okay? What—Yorr— Did he—”_

“ _Shit_ , Korra! I’m—I’m losing you, what did you say?”

Korra’s words were mostly garbled and indecipherable. _“ —irbend——mi?”_

“Get on the radio at the same time tomorrow—Korra? Korra? _Fuck!_ ” Asami shouted as static filled her headphones and she tore them off her head in frustration.

After a few long moments of breathing deeply, Asami started to laugh. Her cheeks and stomach hurt, but she couldn’t stop. Her chest felt lighter than it had in days.

Asami leaned her forehead against the console and closed her eyes. She could hear her tears hitting the panel of her console between her choked laughter.

“I found you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3
> 
> Frankly, osmrice, I don't give a beta.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [17-20](https://open.spotify.com/user/golarisa/playlist/4pRCjIP2FzpCfZueqCCEcA)

_As far as dramatic exits went, that probably could have gone better. But the gentle hiss of a metal door sliding closed just didn’t have quite the same ‘umph’ as forcefully slamming it shut in someone’s face did._

_Whatever. Korra was too busy to think about the fight. She had too many things to do. People were counting on her, and she wouldn’t let them down._

_Korra had never worked in the galley before, let alone the kitchen, but Kwong had been desperate and Korra was a girl of many talents._

_She just wasn’t sure if cooking was one of them._

_But Korra had a hard time turning people down, so here she was, volunteering for a shift in the galley and feeling absolutely_ furious _at her boyfriend—no, her_ ex _boyfriend._

_Stomping her way into the kitchen was significantly more satisfying than leaving Mako in his bunk room had been. The kitchen door swung open hard and smacked the wall behind it as Korra strode in and threw down her bag._

_“Where have you been? And why are you dressed like that? You can’t work in the kitchen in those clothes!”_

_Korra glanced down at herself. “What? Why not?” She was wearing the same department uniform she had been wearing earlier. “I know it’s not a kitchen uniform but I don’t exactly have—”_

_“No!” Kwong fluttered about her, pinching at her shoulders as if she were a dirty rag. “They’re_ filthy _, what kind of operation do you think I run here?”_

_Korra scowled. “I’m sure I have no idea,” she snapped._

_Kwong looked affronted as he walked to the locker by the door. “You can get rid of that attitude right now. You’re in my kitchen, you’ll do what I tell you.”_

_This wasn’t normally a problem, Korra could take instructions. But Kwong was pressing hard on her last nerve, and it was fraying. “You’re the one who wanted my help!” she spat._

_“And believe me,” Kwong said as he found a clean chef’s coat and threw it at her. “I am beginning to question my own sanity. But! I have no choice now. Come.”_

_Kwong ran her through all of the things they had to make. Prime shift would end in an hour and everything had to be done by then. There was a mushroom jook to be made—“Make sure you stir it frequently, otherwise the rice will stick to the bottom.”—tofu to cut and fry—“Get them out before they’re too dark, they’ll keep browning after you take them out of the fryer.”—a peanut sauce to be prepared—“Just don’t touch it. In fact, don’t go anywhere near it, I’ll make it.”—and red bean buns to steam—“Not even you can screw that up.”_

_“Where are all of your normal staff? This is enough work for five people!” Korra exclaimed as she side-eyed the bubbling fryer._

_“Who knows? Something about ‘food poisoning’ or some such. Useless, all of them!” Kwong said with a dismissive flick of his wrist._

_“Oh, is that all?” Korra said dryly, as she picked up the heavy chef’s knife._

_Things were going okay, actually, or at least they seemed to be. Korra dutifully sliced ingredients while Kwong did most of the actual cooking and Korra was able to take some of her frustrations out against the peppers as she let her mind wander._

_Why did Mako always have to take everyone else’s side on, well, everything? Why couldn’t he just be supportive about what Korra actually wanted to do, even if it wasn’t exactly to the ‘best use of her skills’ or whatever? Was she only worth her abilities?_

_She had at least expected Mako, of all people, to see her differently, although she supposed he had a point. Korra had a habit of spreading herself kind of thinly. She could adapt to new roles like no one else could, wouldn't it make sense that she’d have a responsibility to help out as much as she could?_

_Korra let out a small, amused chuckle. Right, Korra, that’s how you ended up in the kitchen, cutting peppers with excessive force._

_“I need more peanuts, I’m going to the store room. Try not to burn anything,” Kwong said as he walked to the door. “And check on the red bean buns, they must be almost done!”_

_Korra paled. “What? You’re leaving me here? Alone? Why don’t I go get the peanuts?” she asked, panicked._

_“Do you even know where the dry goods storage is?” Kwong asked skeptically. When she didn’t answer, he huffed impatiently. “That’s what I thought.”_

_And then he was gone. He was gone and Korra was alone and completely out of her league._

_She dropped a few handfuls of tofu into the hot oil and recoiled when some of the oil splashed over the side of the fryer. “Oh, damn,” she muttered, then shrugged. She’d clean it up after she checked the buns. Korra walked over to the steamer and lifted the lid, resulting in a plume of steam billowing in her face._

_The buns… looked like buns. How was Korra supposed to know if they were ready? They looked exactly the same as when she had rolled them. She poked one, leaving a dip in the skin of the dough. It seemed done, but in her mind there was only one way to know for sure. Korra cast a glance at the kitchen door before stuffing a bun into her mouth, half of it hanging off her lips._

_“Mmmmph,” she moaned into the bun. Not only was it done, it was_ delicious _. She pulled a clean platter over and started to take the buns out of the steamer._

 _Maybe later she should apologize to Mako. He was an ass, but he meant well and she shouldn’t have blown up the way she had. But at the same time, he blew up at_ her _too. So he should apologize first…_

_Shit, Korra had forgotten to stir the soup. She reached out automatically, moving the ladle in the pot with her bending as she continued to pluck buns out of the steamer. The fire was low, so it was probably fine, nothing burned. Everything was totally, completely, under control._

_Though, Kwong had told her to keep it hot. She released her hold on the ladle and instead made the fire grow under the pot. Maybe Korra was okay at this whole cooking thing. Mako was wrong, she wasn’t spreading herself too thinly. Korra could—_

_The fire flared momentarily and caught the previously spilled grease, immediately sending the flames all over the counter. The bun fell from Korra’s mouth. “Augh! No!”_

_The flames licked at the side of the fryer as Korra used one hand to try and quell the fire while simultaneously lifting the entire soup pot into the air, away from the blaze. Liquid sloshed over the sides, and Korra shifted her focus to catch the soup, just barely managing to keep it off the floor before slopping it back into the pot._

_The fire continued to spread and climbed over the lip of the fryer to set the oil inside alight as well. “Oh no,” Korra breathed. “Ohhhhh no.”_

_Korra ran to the sink before twisting the knob desperately and tugging a stream of water over to the fire. Which, she would learn, was stupid._

_There was an explosion and flames wrapped around her body just before her vision blurred._

_Then, darkness. Darkness and yelling._

_So much yelling._

_“What the_ fuck _?” Kwong bellowed._

_Korra was exhausted in a way she had never felt before. She vaguely registered that she was kneeling on the ground, propped up against one of the cabinets, and that was someone was touching her. Their touch was too gentle to be Kwong's though, and their voice too soft._

_“Are you hurt anywhere? Korra? Are you burned?”_

_Korra shook her head as her eyes focused on Asami, whose green eyes were full of worry._

_“Asami? What are you doing here?” Korra asked, dazed._

_“I was in the galley and heard the explosion,” Asami answered as she ran her fingers over Korra’s arms._

_Kwong appeared from behind Asami, looming over her. “What_ happened? _I left you alone for three minutes and you destroyed my kitchen!” he screeched._

_“Not helping, Kwong,” Asami growled. Korra blinked slowly, unable to take her eyes off Asami. “Korra, I think you’re in shock. I’m going to take you to the infirmary.” Asami ducked under Korra’s arm and wrapped an arm around her waist before lifting her up._

_“Asami…”_

_“What am I going to do?” Kwong was pacing, his face practically purple. “There are hundreds of people on their way now and all I have are blackened red bean buns and soup that I can scrape off the walls!”_

_“Move, Kwong,” Asami practically snarled as they shuffled past him._

_Asami shouldered the door open and there a gust of cool air washed over them as she pulled Korra into the corridor. “Why is this bun half eaten?” she heard Kwong ask loudly just before the door closed behind them._

_Korra tried again. “Asami…”_

_Asami stopped this time and readjusted Korra’s arm a little. “What is it? You okay? Do you want to sit?”_

_“I broke up with Mako.”_

_Korra felt Asami’s grip around her forearm tighten momentarily before she relaxed and muttered, “Okay then, we’ll sit down.”_

_Korra sagged against the bulkhead and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. Asami crouched in front of her with a steadying hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay, Korra?”_

_Korra nodded loosely. “Yeah, I think so. We just weren’t really working, you know?”_

_Asami rolled her eyes. “I meant ‘are you okay’, like, are you injured? Do you remember the explosion?”_

_“Oh. Uh, yeah, I remember the explosion. I was right there.”_

_Asami ghosted her fingers over Korra’s arms. She was doing that kind of a lot. “But you aren’t hurt… do you remember what happened?”_

_“Well I was trying to cook—”_

_“After the explosion, Korra,” Asami interrupted with a barely suppressed smile._

_Korra thought back, her eyes drifting to the floor. “Huh. N-no, I guess I don’t.”_

_“Okay. That’s okay,” Asami said with a shrug, “I’m just glad you’re alright. We’ll get you checked out and then you can sleep for a while.”_

_“Okay,” Korra agreed with a nod. “Will you stay with me?”_

_“Yeah, I can wait while they examine you.”_

_“No, I meant when I sleep.”_

_Asami just gazed at Korra with a weird, confusing look for a long moment before she tucked herself under Korra’s arm again and lifted her off the floor. “Sure, if you want.”_

_“Cool,” Korra said sleepily. “I’m really tired. Like,_ really _tired.”_

_“Can you stay awake a bit longer?”_

_Korra rolled her head to the side to look at Asami with a cocky grin. “Sure Asami, I can do anything.”_

_Asami snorted. “Except cook, apparently.”_

_“Yeah, well, I don’t think Kwong is going to ask me to help out in the kitchen anymore anyway.”_

_Asami gave Korra a sidelong glance. “You know you don’t always have to do what other people ask you to. Why would Kwong even want your help? It’s not like your bending helps a whole lot in there.”_

_“Mako said it’s because I have a reputation,” Korra said sullenly._

_“Well,” Asami said after a beat, “he isn’t wrong.”_

_“But… I can do things other people can’t. Don’t I… don’t I have an obligation to help people if I can?”_

_“You don’t owe anything to anyone just because you can bend all the elements. Who cares what anyone thinks? You’re allowed to be happy, Korra.”_

_Korra blinked and turned her head to look at Asami as she considered Asami’s words. “Yeah… but… Asami?”_

_Asami hummed._

_“I care what you think.”_

_Asami’s step faltered for a beat before she gently linked her fingers with Korra’s. “I think you should sit down,” she said as she deposited Korra on an open cot._

_Korra sighed. “Whatever you say, Asami.”_

 

—

 

This airbending thing was a lot harder than Korra thought it would be.

Another airbending gate—“It’s an ancient, time honored tool Korra, I assure you,”—slammed into her side, sending her flying off the platform and onto the ground face first. She groaned against the courtyard stone. “Have I mentioned I’m really not a fan of your gravity?” she grumbled.

“You have,” Tenzin said lightly as he offered her a hand up. She rolled over onto her back and accepted it. “Maybe… maybe we could use a break. We— _you_ have been at it for a while.”

Korra’s sigh was halfway between relief and frustration. “The other elements came so easily to me! Why is airbending different?” She limped painfully to a stone bench and flopped down on it.

“It’s perfectly alright, we just have to be patient,” Tenzin said as he joined her on the bench. “Often the element that is the most difficult for the Avatar to master is the one most opposite to their personality. For my father, Aang, it was earthbending.”

“Yeah, well, at least he _could_ earthbend. But every single time I try to airbend nothing happens!”

Tenzin put a comforting hand on Korra’s shoulder, rolling down one of her sleeves and smoothing it out absentmindedly. “Try not to worry. We’ll keep working at it and you’ll get it.”

Korra pouted for a few moments longer before looking back up at Tenzin. “So, uh, has _every_ Avatar before me learned all the elements?”

Tenzin chuckled softly. “As far as I know, yes. Once you’ve learned to bend all four and mastered controlling the Avatar State, you’ll be a fully realized Avatar.”

Korra tilted her head. “The Avatar State?”

Tenzin hummed in confirmation. “Yes. The Avatar can call upon their Avatar Spirit and become especially powerful.” Tenzin paused before continuing, “Has… has there ever been a time you’ve lost control? Done things with your bending you’ve never done before?”

Korra shook her head. “No,” she started before hesitating. “Wait… actually…” She turned to Tenzin with wide eyes. “There was this one time! There was an, uh, _incident,_ I guess. In Republic’s galley kitchen.” Korra sighed and deflated a little as the memory returned to her. “I was given a lifetime ban from the kitchen…”

Tenzin grimaced. “It’s been known to happen reflexively sometimes, like if you’re in danger or upset.”

Korra winced. “I guess you could say it was something like that…” she said slowly.

Tenzin looked as if he were about to ask further, but thankfully Kya chose that exact moment to interrupt. “Excuse me Tenzin, do you mind if I borrow Korra for a little while?”

Tenzin eyed her skeptically. “We’re just taking a short break, Korra is actually training right now.”

“I know, but I thought it might be beneficial if I trained with her a little as well. You know, teach her some of the stances from the Southern Water Tribe,” Kya said seriously. “I’m sure there are holes in her training of the other elements as well, not just air.”

“Oh, hm. I hadn’t considered that.” Tenzin looked surprised. “I suppose that _would_ be a good idea. Alright, go ahead. We’ll resume airbending training later, Korra.”

Korra leapt to her feet, soreness forgotten. “Great! Let me warn you though,” she said with a cocky grin as they left Tenzin on the bench. “I’m no slouch. Water is the element I’m best at.”

“Oh, that’s what I’m counting on,” Kya said with a smile as she led Korra to the other side of the temple where Jinora and Ikki were waiting.

“What’s… what’s up?” Korra asked, confused. The girls were waiting for them at the top of a steep slope that lead into a courtyard lower down the mountain. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Korra,” Kya said with a stern look. “You have some very serious deficiencies as far as your Water Tribe heritage is concerned.”

“I do? I-I mean, yeah I do... obviously.” Korra set her teeth awkwardly.

“Yes, which is why we’re going to show you a Water Tribe maneuver that has been passed down through our family.”

“The kids too?” Korra said, bewildered. “I thought this was about waterbending.”

“It is! We can’t do this without it!” Meelo shouted as he raced out of the temple, his arms piled high with pillows. “We’re gonna go penguin sledding!”

“What? What’s a penguin? What’s _sledding?_ ” Korra asked as the girls pulled pillows from Meelo’s arms.

“Only the _best thing ever,_ ” Ikki replied as she tossed Korra a pillow.

“It’s a time honored tradition,” Kya continued seriously. “As the successor of Aang and as a woman of the Water Tribes, it’s an absolute _crime_ that you haven’t been penguin sledding.” She accepted a pillow from Jinora and added, “Well, in a sense, anyway.”

“We don’t have penguins, but we do have pillows,” Jinora said. “It’s not quite the same, but we have to make do with what we can.”

“O-okay… what do I do?” Korra asked, tucking her pillow under her arm.

“Well, first you’re going to help me freeze this slope.” Kya walked a short distance away to a stone basin in the middle of the courtyard. “This is a well,” she explained. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen one before, but it’s how we get water from the reservoir in the mountain.”

Kya swept her arms to the side, drawing up a large tendril of water and floating it over to the slope. “Ready?” she asked.

“I, uh, I think so?” Korra answered hesitantly.

Kya dropped the water with a splash, sending it cascading down the incline and Korra reached out, freezing it as it reached the lower courtyard.

“Perfect,” Kya said with a grin. “Last one down is a nut brain!” she yelled as she tucked the pillow under herself and jumped onto the ice.

There was jostling at Korra’s side as the kids fought to be the first one to follow Kya. “No, _you’re_ the nut brain!” Meelo whined just before he and Ikki toppled down onto their pillows and all but flew down the incline.

“C’mon, Korra!” Jinora encouraged with a laugh as she neatly sat on the pillow and slid down with a squeal. Korra shrugged and followed suit.

Ikki was right; it was the _best thing ever_.

The force of the air rushing against her face bit at her cheeks and made her eyes sting, but there was no way Korra was going to close her eyes for an instant. She was pretty sure she was yelling, but it was lost to the wind.

The pillow dipped and jumped along the ice, jostling Korra and sending her tumbling from the pillow, only to end up sprawled out at the bottom of the ice. She sat up immediately. “That was _awesome!_ ” she exclaimed. “Can we go again?”

“Race you!” Meelo shouted, summoning a ball of air and traveling back up the icy slope with ease as the girls hastened to follow.

Korra watched them reach the top again. “Must be nice,” she said wistfully, without bitterness.

“I know, I’m getting too old for this,” Kya said as she patted Korra on the shoulder. “C’mon, we have to take the long way around.”

Korra eyed the hill. “Maybe we don’t.” She stomped down hard against the hill, making rocks spring free of the ice to form a series of steps.

“Must be nice,” Kya teased good naturedly before beginning to climb the stairs.

Korra grinned as she followed. “There are perks.”

After they had all gone down the hill a few more times, Kya sighed. “Alright kids, we’d better stop before your father realizes that _gasp_ , the Avatar’s having _fun_.”

Korra helped Kya melt the ice and return the water to the well. “Thanks Kya, that was great.”

“Just wait until we go to the South!” Meelo said happily as he passed. “Then we can do _real_ penguin sledding.”

Korra tilted her head as the kids wandered off. “You’re planning to go to the South?”

Kya hummed. “Eventually yes. But not now.”

Korra was about to press Kya for more details but as they rounded the side of the temple, Korra caught sight of Bumi.

Bumi, sitting amongst the broken remains of the escape pod radio.

“Bumi! What are you _doing?_ ” Korra shouted as she rushed over.

As she got closer, Korra realized that most of the pieces surrounding Bumi were actually small tins, canisters and variously sized hairbrushes.

“Well,” Bumi said as he opened a tin and experimentally sniffed its contents. “I tried that pom-whatcha call it, and it works great! See?” Korra thought his hair looked exactly as it always did, except that when he flicked his head, his hair didn’t move an inch. It did, however, glint in the sun. Bumi’s hair was like a shiny rock, or something.

“So I thought,” Bumi continued, “hey, maybe there’s more in this thing. And look!” He gestured to all of the products around him.

“But,” Korra squawked as she gaped at the remains of her lifeline. “The radio…”

“Oh, yeah.” Bumi turned and picked up a small box with the satellite dish mounted to the top of it. “Without all this hair stuff the radio is actually pretty small. I pulled out all the important bits and put this together.”

Korra accepted the box into her hands. It was fairly light and about a third of the size of what it had been previously. The hair products had apparently added quite a bit of heft and size.

“Bumi,” Korra said while protectively clutching the radio to her chest, “thank you, this is way, _way_ better.”

Bumi shot her a grin. “You’re quite welcome. Think of it as a mutually beneficial arrangement!” He scooped all of the Varri-manageable hair products into his arms and stood before awkwardly carrying all of them back into the temple.

As he entered the temple, Pema and Tenzin appeared at the entrance. “What’s all that?” Tenzin asked as he eyed Bumi’s armload.

“You wouldn’t understand, baldy!”

Tenzin looked nonplussed as Bumi passed, but Pema just ignored him. “Korra, would you like to help me make some fruit pies for dinner? I could use an extra set of hands.”

“Uh…” Tenzin interrupted quietly with a grimace. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, apparently Korra has a history with kitchens—”

Pema shushed Tenzin as Korra rose to her feet.

“You want me to help?” Korra said, surprised. “I… I would love to! Just let me put this in my room!”

Pema smiled. “Great! Come find me in the kitchen when you’re done.”

As Korra ran back to her room without getting lost once, she considered Kya’s words from a few nights earlier. Even though Earth wasn’t exactly Korra’s home, maybe it could still be beautiful.

 

—

 

Asami was dreaming. Her awareness of it came upon her slowly, a sluggish prickle at the back of her neck that reminded her that things were not quite right. As soon as she realized it, she retreated further into the dream, surrendering herself to it in hopes of staying there. The last thing she wanted was to be pulled away by her own subconscious.

Because Korra was there.

Well, almost. Her ship had arrived and Asami was racing through busy Republic corridors trying to get to the airlock. The prickle reminded her that Korra shouldn’t be there, Korra _couldn’t_ be there. But Asami knew that to look too closely at the details meant that she would inevitably find more cracks, and more cracks would inevitably lead to shattering.

She could ignore the prickle for now. Just long enough for this.

Asami could see the airlock door and the crowd gathered around it, waiting for Korra’s arrival.

The airlock slid open and there was Korra. Her hair was loose in waves and mussed from her helmet; her bright, blue eyes stood out starkly against the greyness of the dream. Korra smiled, beautiful and warm and just a little crooked.

The prickle intensified, crawling up and down her spine, but Asami ran, pretending that the ache in her chest was just relief and joy. Korra threw aside the helmet in her hands carelessly, leaving her hands free for Asami.

Asami knew she was in Korra’s arms, but she didn’t feel Korra’s body against hers. She didn’t smell Korra’s scent when she pressed her face against Korra’s neck. She didn’t feel Korra’s breath against her cheek when Korra whispered words that were too quiet to hear over the sound of the prickling behind Asami’s ears.

Asami pressed herself further against Korra as if clinging to her would make her more solid under her hands. “Korra,” she whispered firmly in affirmation. “Korra.”

Korra tilted her head back to gaze at Asami. Her eyes were still sparkling, making their surroundings appear dull and blurred in contrast. Korra raised her hands to Asami’s face, stroking Asami’s cheekbones with her thumbs, but the prickling was stronger than Korra’s ghost of a touch. Asami could only focus on Korra’s face and shining eyes and try to convince herself it was real for just a moment more.

It wasn’t working; Asami was failing.

Korra opened her mouth to speak but the sound of her voice was distorted by static, as if she was speaking through their unreliable connection. _“A—mi, I—”_

The edges of the dream were curling and pulling away as Asami desperately tried to smooth them out. “No, no, don’t go. _Please_.”

The prickling was becoming unbearable; the dream wasn’t listening. It didn’t care that Asami had wrapped her fingers around the creases of Korra’s spacesuit, or that Asami wanted nothing but to believe, for a moment longer, that it was real. That Korra was here, that Korra was hers.

Korra was fading and Asami was pulled away as the edges rolled inwards towards them. “I love you!” Asami shouted desperately into the sound of static. Korra just looked on with a sorrowful smile as Asami slid away. “I-I’m coming! I’m going to tell you! I’m going to hold you and I’m going to tell you I love you and I’m never going to let you go!” Asami couldn’t even hear her own voice anymore. The sound of rushing air and static roared in her ears and she could only let go, finally allowing herself be dragged to the surface, to her bunk.

Asami was crying. She felt weak and helpless and when she wiped the tears away she realized she was trembling.

But.

All was not lost. The more awake Asami became, the more her heart lightened. Korra wasn’t here, no, but at least Asami had _something_ now. She had heard Korra, she knew Korra was alive and relatively okay. There was a chance, however small, and Asami would take it. She would take anything.

After she had sufficiently recovered from their conversation, Asami had wiped her tears—and cleaned up the remains of her broken coffee mug from the floor—and immediately rushed to Korra’s parents’ cabin. She had pounded on the door until Tonraq, confused and bleary-eyed, opened the door.

She had breathlessly told him what had happened and Senna had clung to Tonraq as she cried. Tonraq didn’t say a word while Asami explained, he just listened with rapt attention until she had run out of words. Then he had grabbed Asami’s shoulders and pulled her in for a tight hug, enveloping her and silently relaying his gratitude and relief.

Then Asami slept. She slept like she hadn’t in ages, and it was both wonderful and terrible.

But now, it was time to go back to work. Korra was out there and Asami was going to get to her.

Asami opened her locker to change out of her rumpled clothes and a piece of laminate fell to the ground. She bent to pick it up.

_Asami,_

_Tonraq informed the board of your contact with Korra. They’re furious of course, but they can’t do much about it. They didn’t want to include you but Izumi has approved the imaging and we’re meeting on the flight deck. Come as soon as you can._

_-HS_

Asami groaned. Of course they were furious, she had lied to their faces. Well, lied by omission to their faces. But of course, she would do it again. She would do it a thousand times to get to Korra.

She dressed quickly. The flight deck was all the way on the other end of Republic and she would have to hurry if she was going to make it in time to meet with the council. Hopefully the message had only been delivered to her locker recently and she still had time.

Asami hurried down the corridor, barely noticing the people around her, which was why she didn’t recognize Yorru until he was already in front of her.

“Hello, Asami,” he said with a slight bow of his head as he put himself directly in her path. His head and beard were cleanly shaved, which gave him a startlingly gaunt look. Asami didn’t know him very well; they only saw each other occasionally and had nothing in common except Korra’s friendship, but they had always been friendly for Korra’s sake.

“Hello Yorru, I almost didn’t recognize you,” Asami replied. “Felt like a change?”

Yorru smiled thinly. “Yes, I thought it was time for something a little more… freeing, perhaps.”

Asami nodded. “That would certainly do it.” There was an awkward pause and Asami opened her mouth to make her excuses when Yorru cleared his throat.

“I wanted to ask; there have been some rumors about Korra? Has there been news?” he asked timidly, his eyes furrowed in concern.

Asami hesitated. She shouldn’t be surprised that rumors were already circulating; a lot of people cared about Korra and the circumstances surrounding her departure were exciting and mysterious. Still, Asami was already on thin ice with the council and spreading word further wasn’t going to do her any favors, especially when there was still so much they didn’t yet know.

But, on the other hand, Asami knew that Yorru was important to Korra. And while Asami had never been particularly close to him, she knew Korra was important to him as well.

“Yes…” Asami confirmed quietly with a scant glance at their surroundings. “She’s alive.”

Yorru’s eyes widened fractionally before he broke out in a smile. “I’m so relieved. You spoke to her?” When Asami nodded, he asked, “What did she say?”

Asami sighed. “It was a very short conversation before the signal cut out. She just said that she was okay and on Earth. I don’t know much beyond that, unfortunately.”

Yorru nodded slowly as he seemed to consider her words. “I wonder if she’s finding Earth very different from what I’ve described.”

That hadn’t occurred to Asami. The thought of Korra finally seeing Earth, after a lifetime of curiosity, made Asami smile. “With any luck, she’ll tell us soon. I’m going to try and make contact again tonight.”

Yorru’s eyes unfocused slightly but he smiled genially. “I hope you succeed. Thank you Asami. A weight has been lifted from my heart knowing that she’s safe. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to bringing our girl home.”

Asami returned the smile a little uneasily. “Take… take care, Yorru.”

“And you, Asami,” he said as he slid past her to continue down the hall. Asami looked after him for a moment, suddenly reminded of Korra’s broken message. The one that had sounded like Yorru’s name.

It wasn’t often that Asami found herself on the flight deck. It was a tightly controlled part of the ship, for obvious reasons, but it was still one of Asami’s favorite rooms on Republic. It was long, stretching around an entire edge of Republic, and the ceiling was high, making it the largest single room on Republic. It wasn’t claustrophobic like the rest of Republic and for a moment Asami remembered why she had almost chosen to work on the flight deck.

The room was softly lit, allowing one to look out of the enormous window. It wasn’t a necessary feature and Asami thought that whoever designed Republic all those centuries ago must have been a romantic. Why else would be there a sloping window in the middle of the room that looked out at the inky blackness of space? Asami loved it though. It was easy to look out and forget that she was in a glorified tin can that was shooting through space at a speed she could hardly comprehend; she just relaxed and let herself enjoy infinity.

The sound of raised voices really ruined the illusion though.

The council members were embroiled in an argument next to a long console where a very nervous looking technician fiddled with the controls of Republic’s massive telescope. Asami felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. It couldn’t have been easy to do her job while her boss and the other four most important people on Republic fought right behind her.

“I’m not sure what the point of this is, we’ve already contacted Korra who confirmed that she was indeed on Earth,” Su was saying, her arms crossed. Asami hesitated by the door, reluctant to join the fray.

Raiko looked harried. “ _We_ didn’t confirm anything; this is all second—no— _third_ hand that Korra is alive on Earth and that Earth is still habitable and safe.”

“Are you implying that my daughter’s testimony is somehow insuffici—”

Raiko waved Hiroshi off angrily. “I’m implying that your daughter went behind all of our backs and contacted Earth without permission and now the entire planet could know of our approach—no, in fact, I’m not implying it, I’m _saying it_.”

“It’s not as if Asami was deliberately defying your orders out of what, spite? She was experimenting with the Earth signal long before we decided not to contact Earth.” Asami was honestly a bit surprised at her father’s defense of her.

Su cut in, “She was worried about Korra—”

“It doesn’t matter!” Raiko interrupted. “She could have informed us!”

Asami sighed and stepped forward. “You would have stopped me,” she said pointedly.

“You’re damn right we would have stopped you,” Raiko growled.

“Uh,” the technician raised a shaky hand, “e-excuse me... the telescope is in position. We have visual…”

The room stilled. Everyone on the flight deck stopped rigidly in place to look at the large monitor in the middle of the room. “Go ahead,” Izumi, who had been silently observing the argument since Asami arrived, instructed the technician.

Asami held her breath. She had seen dozens of artist renderings in books, but she was about to see the real thing. Earth.

The console flickered and came to life. And there it was, the pale blue dot that Korra had dreamed of. Except…

“Is it supposed to look like that?” Raiko asked, confused.

Asami wasn’t sure that it was. At least she didn’t think so. The top of the planet was as it had always been depicted. Deep blues and greens wrapping around each other. The bottom of the planet, however, looked entirely different. It was greys and browns, spreading upwards as if the planet was being held by a clawed hand. Tendrils of discoloration marred and disfigured the planet. Asami wasn’t sure what was wrong, exactly, but it was definitely, decidedly _wrong_.

“Why does it look like that? It’s not supposed to look like that, right?” Su asked with a panicked waver in her voice.

“What if they need help? We cannot provide…”

Asami wasn’t listening. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the planet. She had no idea what it meant except that Korra was down there, somewhere, trapped in whatever this was. Asami had the distinct impression that Korra was in danger. There was only one way Asami could think to explain the sight in front of her.

Earth was _sick_.

 

—

 

Korra let out a long, slow breath as she closed the door to her room. She was exhausted. It was a good kind of exhausted though, not like the fatigue and weakness she had felt after waking up from the crash. After dinner Kya actually did want to spar with Korra— _“Again?”_ Tenzin had asked, incredulously—which of course Korra had been eager to do. Kya was incredibly nimble though, and Korra now had bruises that would remind her not to underestimate Kya again.

Afterwards Kya had helped her heal the more severe bruises, but Korra’s arms and legs still felt tight and spent. She flopped down on her bed with a sigh and gazed out of the window. The last tendrils of dusk were slipping away and Xuan Wu would soon be visible. Korra sat up again, her weariness forgotten.

The radio was significantly easier to move now and it fit easily on Korra’s window sill. She opened the window and leaned the radio against the frame while she unwound the receiver and pulled it down to where she sat on the bed. As the stars started to appear, she carefully oriented the satellite dish towards the familiar constellation and turned on the radio.

There was only static at first, but Korra didn’t mind. She leaned against the wall under the window sill and waited until the static became nothing but background noise.

Korra must have dozed off because after what only felt like a few seconds, the radio crackled loudly and Korra jerked upright. She fumbled with the receiver and pulled it to her mouth. “Asami?”

The static was shifting, garbled, but there was noise underneath it. “Asami?” Korra repeated more loudly.

_“—orra?”_

“Asami,” Korra sighed in relief and a knot in her chest she hadn’t noticed she was carrying loosened. “Hi.”

_“Korra, can you hear me?”_

Korra waited, counting out the seconds with taps against the wall. After she got to a hundred and forty-one, Asami answered.

_“Korra, hi. Are you okay? You sound tired.”_

Korra smiled softly. Of course Asami had heard her exhaustion in just a few words. “I am, but mostly I’m just happy to hear your voice—”

 _“This delay is awful…”_ Korra heard Asami say softly, away from her reciever.

“It really is. It’s shorter now though, did you notice? I guess the closer Republic gets to Earth the less time we’ll have to wait to hear each other.”

After a beat Korra opened her mouth to continue, but she closed it when she realized that it would probably interrupt Asami while she was speaking and confuse them both. So she bit her lip and waited.

Asami hummed. _“Yeah, that’s true. We should have more time now too. I think I’m honing in on where you are. But hey, I have some people here who want to say hi.”_ There was a soft sound, and a creak of a chair. _“Hi, sweetheart.”_ Tonraq sighed. _“We’re… we’re so glad you’re okay,”_ he said with a waver in his voice.

Korra immediately felt tears spring to her eyes. “Dad… and Mom? Are you there too? I’m okay, I promise. I’m safe. I found good people and they’ve been helping me a lot. I don’t want you to worry, okay? We’ll see each other again.” And in that moment, Korra believed the words.

 _“Yes Korra, I’m here,”_ Senna said with a sniffle. _“Good… I’m so happy they’re taking care of…”_ There was a sharp intake of air and another creak before Asami’s voice drifted back through the radio. _“I think they’re going to need a couple minutes.”_

“Me too,” Korra said with a wet laugh. “I miss you guys so much. Are Mako and Bolin there?”

_“No, they wanted to let your parents talk to you first. Next time though, Bolin made me promise. We miss you too. But Korra, we have to talk. We finally saw Earth but… it looks strange. Do you know anything about it?”_

Korra frowned and adjusted the receiver in her hands. “It looks strange? What do you mean?”

_“Like… as if it’s dying… Korra it looks totally unlike the books. It looks like something’s almost… spreading from the bottom of the planet upwards.”_

“No…” Korra said slowly. “I don’t know anything about that. It’s beautiful where I am…”

_“See if you can find out? It’s setting the council on edge. They’re being very cautious about contacting the colonies, and we’re probably going to need their help to rejoin Earth’s orbit and get you off Earth.”_

Korra’s eyes widened. “That’s… that’s how you’re trying to get to me?”

_“Yes. Well, also I think rejoining Earth is the only thing that can save Republic. We haven’t been doing well, you know that, and rejoining Earth might be its only hope of long term survival. I don’t know if Republic can last another five hundred years of just scavenging.”_

Korra almost smacked herself. She had been so focused on simply getting word to Republic, to her parents and to Asami that she was alive, that she hadn’t even considered how Republic would react or how they would even get her home. It had just been another thing to worry about later. But now the bridge needed to be crossed and Korra was almost entirely helpless. It was all up to Asami and her parents.

 _“You know,”_ Asami continued. _“I don’t want to talk about that right now. I just want to talk to you. Tell me… tell me everything.”_

Korra grinned. That, she could do. She told Asami about waking up, disoriented and injured in the escape pod. She explained how she had met Jinora and how they were attacked by the dark spirit. Asami mostly kept quiet, but sometimes Korra would pause and wait out the delay to allow Asami to ask a question or two.

_“What do you mean they can ‘airbend’? You mean like water, earth and fire? That kind of bending?”_

“Yes! And they say I should be be able to do it too. They know why I can bend all the elements Asami, I’m something called an _Avatar_. I don’t really know what it means but it’s important and there’s only one person who can.”

 _“Wow…”_ Asami breathed. _“I wonder why no one on Republic can airbend?”_

Korra paled. “Oh shit—Asami, last night I tried to tell you but I don’t think it got through. Yorru. _He_ can airbend. He and P’Li caught me off guard and attacked me. That’s… that’s how this whole thing happened!”

_“Oh… oh no… Korra, I spoke to Yorru today. I told him you were alive. He must know that you would have told us what happened.”_

“What can he do though? I’m down here and he’s up there. And he hasn’t hurt anyone else, right? Just tell Lin and have them arrested.”

_“Right… right, okay. I will. After, though. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”_

“Yeah totally. It can wait.” Korra wasn’t sure how true that was, but she wasn’t ready to give up Asami yet either. “How much longer do you think we have?”

_“I don’t know, honestly. Did you find out more about where you are?”_

“Yeah, they called it the Northern Air Temple. It’s in a mountain range in the North, just south of the North Pole.”

 _“Okay, I’ll work on the signal for next time then.”_ There was a long pause, long enough that Korra was about to speak when she heard Asami let out a harsh breath. _“Korra… I have to tell you something. I meant to tell you before—I_ should _have told you before…”_ Asami paused, as if gathering her courage or waiting for Korra to indicate she was listening.

Korra knew. Of course Korra knew, she had been thinking the same thing. She had thought it for months, probably for years before the attack.

“Don’t,” she said sharply. “Don’t tell me. Wait until we see each other again. I want to hear it in person. I want to… be able to look at you.”

A hundred and forty-one seconds later, Asami sighed. _“Okay. You’re right. I can wait. I miss you so much though. It’s not the same here without you.”_

Korra slumped down until she was laying on the bed, cradling the receiver in her hands. “I miss you too.” It wasn’t exactly what Korra _wanted_ to say, but she tried to put as much meaning into those four words as she could. She wanted them to tell Asami everything, every cosmic ache in her bones that made her want to reach through the radio. There was so much standing in the way of reuniting with Asami. Maybe she _should_ just tell her, just in case she never got the chance in person. So that even if they never did see each other again, Korra wouldn’t regret not saying it.

She didn’t say it. Instead, she said the one thing she hadn’t wanted to admit since she had landed on Earth. “I’m scared.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the top of the receiver and willed herself not to cry as she imagined those words drifting through space, eventually finding their way to Asami.

And Asami’s words found her, faded and muffled after traveling the millions of miles between them. _“Me too.”_

Korra took a deep breath and composed herself. “I think we’re losing the signal. But I’ll talk to you again tomorrow, right? Be careful, especially with Yorru. I have no idea why he attacked me but I imagine he wouldn’t hesitate to attack you too if you confront him.”

_“Yeah, I will. Don’t worry, just stay safe. And Korra? Are you still there?”_

“Yeah, I’m here.”

_“I’ll see you soon.”_

The static clipped the end of Asami’s words, and Korra raised her hand up to turn off the radio before letting it fall back down across her eyes and she willed herself not to cry anymore.

Korra felt so _helpless_. She couldn’t help Asami, couldn’t help Republic, couldn’t do all of the things that Tenzin and his family so clearly expected of her as the _Avatar_. She was none of those things, she was just _Korra_ , and she wasn’t enough. She wasn’t good enough for Earth, or Republic, or _Asami_ , who was doing so much to find her, to bring her home.

Her hands clenched the sheets in frustration and she couldn’t hold the tears back. She cried bitterly, feeling more inadequate than she ever had. She was so obviously bringing hope into the lives of this family who had taken her in without hesitation and treated her like family, and yet she couldn’t live up to those hopes because she couldn't even airbend.

Suddenly, Korra was torn from her self-loathing by a loud, rattling explosion. It was immediately followed by an incredible scraping, _grinding_ noise that sounded as if the entire temple was sliding off the mountain side. Korra bolted upright and clumsily tugged on her boots as she rushed out of her room.

More explosions and jarring, metallic screeching echoed all around her as she ran down the hall. “Tenzin! Pema!” she shouted uselessly against the crumbling sounds of the temple coming apart.

“Kid!”

Korra turned, bewildered, as Bumi ran headlong into her, shoving out of the way as a portion of the hallway collapsed into the space she had just been occupying.

Bumi stood and offered her a hand, which she accepted. As soon as she was on her feet he tugged her with him, breaking into a run.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Korra yelled over the noise as she caught up to run alongside Bumi.

Korra had to strain to hear his low, snarling response. “It’s the Red Lotus. They’ve found us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, chapter six already? I should really slow down.
> 
> Thank you for all the kind comments, you always know just what to say :]
> 
> os-m-rice, mul-ti-pass


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that this fic is rated M, and that this chapter earns that rating. The third (and last) section features fairly graphic descriptions of trauma, and if that is not your bag please stop reading after the second section. I've decided not to add an archive warning because I have no plans to make this a habit, and it's probably only akin to an R rated movie or an episode of The Walking Dead or something, but I will certainly reconsider if necessary.
> 
> [21-23](https://open.spotify.com/user/golarisa/playlist/4pRCjIP2FzpCfZueqCCEcA)

_“Shit,” Asami muttered under her breath as another solder snapped. This was never going to work._

_She threw down the prototype with a broken sigh. What a ridiculous waste of time. Asami was never going to be able to fit all of these integral pieces into such a small space, and the sooner she accepted that, the sooner she could move on. If she quit now, there was a good chance she could catch up on her homework and no one would notice her recent diversion from her studies._

_Why did Asami even start this project in the first place? She still thought the principle behind it was sound, but the execution of it was another matter entirely. She had just wanted to do one thing herself, without her father’s involvement._

_To prove to him that she could. To prove to_ herself _that she could._

_But she hadn’t proved anything. Her father would never be proud of her for just making broken prototypes that only sounded good on paper, but simply weren’t possible._

_Or worse, if_ she _wasn’t capable of making it possible._

_Asami ran her fingers through her hair, absentmindedly working out the tangles as she stared down at the mess of exposed wires. How was she going to explain all of the components gone from her father’s workshop? Or the missing work glove? It was completely useless now…_

_From her bedroom Asami heard the cabin door open. She hastily opened one of her desk drawers and dumped the prototype and her blueprints inside. She pulled a textbook into her lap and flipped to a random page._

_“Asami?” Korra called from the hall. “You home?”_

_Asami let out a sigh of relief and let the textbook slide from her lap. “Hey, I’m in here.” She opened the drawer and began replacing her tools on the desk as Korra pushed Asami’s door open. “I thought you were my dad.”_

_Korra watched Asami pull the crumpled blueprints from the drawer and start to neatly roll them up. “What’s that?”_

_“Blueprints for this thing,” Asami said with a frown and pointed at the open drawer._

_Korra leaned over to look inside and reached out, but hesitated just short. “Can I…?” When Asami shrugged she carefully withdrew the prototype. “This looks badass. What does it do?”_

_“It’s_ supposed _to be a welding glove. Welding outside is really hard; I thought if I ran the whole system through a glove it would be easier and safer…”_

_Korra turned it over, inspecting it closely. “Oh wow. How does it work?”_

_“It doesn’t. I can’t get it to work.”_

_Korra gave Asami an unimpressed look. “Ookay, how were you_ planning _to make it work?”_

_Asami took the glove from Korra. “See these canisters on the wrist? These are the gas canisters. The gas lines,” she ran her fingers along the wires that ran along the length of the glove, “run to the index and middle finger.” Asami pointed at the exposed circular panel in the palm of the glove. “This is the igniter. Electricity runs through between the insulation of the glove and sparks.”_

_Asami looked up from the glove and found Korra staring at her. After a few seconds of silence Korra said seriously, “Asami, this is brilliant.”_

_Asami grimaced and tossed the glove back down onto the desk. “Maybe it would be if I could get it to actually do those things.”_

_“Hey,” Korra protested gently as she picked up the glove again, cradling it in her hands. “You will.”_

_Asami sighed. “I’ve been trying for—well, a while. It’s been a huge waste of time.”_

_“Have you asked your dad? Maybe a different pair of eyes would help?”_

_Asami hesitated and cast her eyes downward. “Um… no, I haven’t. I wanted… I don’t know. I wanted to do it myself.”_

_Korra was watching her with a soft expression. “Ah.”_

_Asami felt a blush crawling up her neck, but she bit down her embarrassment. It was just Korra, after all. “It was a stupid idea anyway,” she said bitterly._

_The glove landed on the desk with a clatter and Asami turned towards the sound in surprise. “What—”_

_Korra knelt on a knee and folded her hand over Asami’s. “It’s not. You know it’s not.”_

_Asami froze in surprise. She and Korra had been friends for several years now and while they hugged occasionally, it was always in a friendly, casual manner. This felt intimate in a new way, and it made Asami’s heart give an unfamiliar lurch._

_Asami bit her lip and looked away, but left her hand under Korra’s warm one. “Well, my father could have come up with something better. I’m just not good enough.”_

_“But he didn’t,” Korra said._

_Asami looked at Korra. “He didn’t what?”_

_“He_ didn’t _come up with something better. You did. You came up with something better than just using a welding torch and you’re going to make it work.”_

_Korra looked completely confident. Like it wasn’t even a question that Asami would make it work. Like Asami was capable of anything. No one had ever looked at Asami that way before. She had impressed others before, sure, but their praise was always after a job well done, like a pat on the head._

_Korra’s faith in Asami came before Asami had actually_ done _anything._

_Asami could do nothing but stare for a long time. Korra’s intensely blue eyes narrowed slightly in determination as she stared right back, like she was willing Asami to believe her. Her lips were slightly parted and curled just a little at the edges._

_“How do you know?” Asami finally asked quietly._

_Korra met her stare for another moment before blinking slowly and letting her smile crawl upwards. “Because you’re you,” she answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world._

_“Now,” Korra continued as she released Asami’s hand and stood, “why isn’t it working?” She picked up the glove and pulled it on. She turned it palm up and made of show of inspecting it closely. “Ohhhhh, I see what the problem is.”_

_“What? You do?” Asami asked incredulously._

_“Yeah! Look!” Korra turned the palm of the glove towards Asami and pointed at the open panel. “You have a huge hole here! That’s definitely a design flaw,” she teased._

“Korra,” _Asami groaned and rolled her eyes. “This is serious! I don’t know how to fix this!”_

_“Maybe not, but you will,” Korra said assuredly as she slipped the glove off and offered it to Asami._

_Asami couldn’t help the small smile that sprung up as she accepted the glove into her hands._

_Yeah, maybe she would._   
  


—

 

Lin sighed. “I’m sure you realize how unorthodox it is for you to be here.”

Asami marched alongside Lin, her eyes fixed straight ahead. “We both know that you could order me not to go with you, but you won’t because you know what this means to me.”

Lin scrunched her face in frustration. “I also know Korra would never forgive me if you were hurt.”

Asami cast a sidelong glance at Lin. “Korra knows I can take care of myself.”

Asami was actually surprised Lin was allowing her to tag along for the arrest of Yorru and P’Li. Asami suspected that her permission came, at least in part, because of guilt. Guilt that Lin hadn’t figured it out sooner, or that perhaps she could have prevented the attack somehow. Asami knew it was misplaced, that there was nothing either of them could have done differently and no one would have ever suspected Yorru or P’Li of violence, let alone against Korra.

Misplaced guilt or not though, Asami wasn’t about to point that out to Lin. At least not right now.

Asami was less nervous than she probably should have been. She had too many questions and too much anger in her to be nervous. She was curious, of course, about _why_ they had attacked Korra, but she was mostly just _angry_. Angry that it had happened, angry that she hadn’t realized it sooner, and especially angry that they thought they could get away with it.

Yorru’s cabin door came into view and Asami took a deep breath. She had no idea what to expect from an airbender. She could only hope they weren’t about to find out.

Lin directed the two officers behind them to either side of the cabin door before stepping in front of Asami and pounding on the door. “Yorru, P’Li, open up. This is Republic Security,” she called loudly.

There was a long beat of silence and Lin glanced back at Asami with a raised eyebrow before trying again. “Don’t make me take down this door,” she growled. “I would rather do this the easy way.”

After another moment of silence Lin muttered, “Fine,” and took a step back before easily bending the door off its hinges. Immediately her two officers entered the room, arms raised.

Lin set the door down with a resounding ‘clang’ and from within the darkened cabin one of the officers called, “Clear!”

Lin frowned as she and Asami entered the cabin. “Neither of them are on schedule right now, where else would they be?”

One of the officers turned on the overhead light. The cabin was surprisingly bare, with only a few things strewn about and several dresser drawers thrown open.

Lin snorted humorlessly. “Where the hell do they think they’re going, exactly?”

“You think they’re hiding somewhere?” Asami asked as she carefully picked her way around the room.

“What would be the point? We would find them eventually,” Lin answered sourly. “I would expect this from some punk kid, but Yorru? He’s smarter than this.”

“Chief,” one of the officers said from the other side of the room, “I think I’ve got something.”

The officer was standing over a small box full of books and scrolls, each old and faded. Lin picked up a fragile, flaking scroll and unfurled it. It looked like a bending scroll, but unlike any Asami had ever seen. “It must be for airbending,” she observed.

“Where would Yorru even get this?” Lin wondered aloud. “It’s not as if we have anything about airbending in the library.” She let the scroll curl in on itself and placed it back in the box. “Take this whole box back to the department,” she instructed one of the officers. “Then I want everyone looking for Yorru and P’Li. Check everywhere, especially the galley, the gardens, anywhere they might go for supplies.”

“Yes, Chief,” the officer said stiffly before grabbing the box and leaving the cabin.

“Lin…” Asami said slowly, parcelling the thought out in her mind. “I’d like to check the hangar, if that’s alright.”

“The hangar? Why?”

“You’re right, Yorru is too smart for this. He would never expect to be able to hide on Republic for long. But if he leaves…”

Lin crossed her arms with a skeptical look. “None of the ships can stay out indefinitely, they’ll die.”

“No, but with a few modifications and some of the information we’ve gathered on the flight deck… perhaps it would be possible to make it to Earth.”

Lin studied Asami for an uncomfortably long time before she finally pinched her eyes shut. “Oh, for the love of…” she muttered as she spun on a heel and left the cabin in the rush. “Come on!”

“Get out of the way!” Lin shouted as she, Asami and her remaining officer tore down the corridor on the way to the suit locker rooms. “Republic Security coming through!”

As they neared the lockers, Asami spied a familiar set of brothers, still in their suits and chatting amiably as they walked towards them. “Mako! Bolin! You just came from the hangar, right?” she asked as she skidded to a halt in front of them.

“Yep!” Bolin confirmed with a proud grin. “And we got a pretty decent haul, too!” He began to count on his fingers. “Some phosphorus, magnesium—”

Lin cut him off impatiently. “Have either of you seen Yorru or P’Li?”

“Uh, yeah,” Mako said, his brow furrowing and his eyes flicking between her and Asami. “Well, not Yorru, but P’Li passed by not very long ago.”

Lin and Asami shared a brief look before Lin turned to the officer behind them and quietly instructed, “Lock down the hangar, nothing gets out of there. And get everyone down here, ASAP.”

The officer saluted shortly before sprinting off back the way they had come.

“Let’s just get to the locker room,” Lin growled.

Asami gave her a quick nod. “Right behind you.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Mako asked after them, as he and Bolin hurried to match their pace.

Lin glanced back at them before sighing in resignation. “I suppose we could use the backup.”

“P’Li and Yorru were the ones who attacked Korra,” Asami told them without looking back. “We think they’re trying to leave Republic.”

“P’Li and Yorru? What? Why?” Bolin asked as they piled into the locker room. Asami fumbled with the combination on her locker before whipping it open and yanking out her space suit in a hurry. “Wait, why aren’t you just letting them?” Bolin continued. “Won’t they just like, die out there? Eventually?”

“Wouldn’t that be nice,” Lin grumbled as she aggressively stuck a foot through a leg of her suit.

“We think they have a plan to get to Earth,” Asami said as she tied her hair back in a haphazard ponytail.

“ _You_ think they have a plan to get to Earth. I think they’re just insane,” Lin corrected as she finished attaching her spool of metal cable to the hip of her suit.

Asami snatched her helmet and slammed her locker door shut. “Oh, they’re definitely insane. They’re just also trying to get to Earth.”

The airlock took a mercifully short time to arrive, and they each snapped their helmets into place as the door closed. The chamber depressurized as it picked up speed, and soon Asami was left with only the sound of her own breathing filling her ears.

There was a loud click and Lin’s voice buzzed through the comms. “Alright, everyone good?”

Asami gave her a thumbs up as they floated off the ground and the airlock opened to the vacuum.

Prime shift had just ended, so the hangar was largely empty except for a few Auxiliary shift workers. Asami could see Mako and Bolin’s Tugboat docked close by, with a few workers preparing to remove their haul from the wire mesh. “Where do we start?” Bolin asked.

“They’re bound to be using a different comms frequency,” Asami said quietly. “Lin, if you tell everyone to clear out, Yorru and P’Li would probably be none the wiser.”

Lin flicked on the hangar frequency. “This is Chief Beifong speaking. Please go to the nearest airlock and leave the hangar as quickly as possible.”

Many tinted visors cast about, looking for the source of the announcement. “What’s going on?” a voice asked.

“We’re locking down the hangar. Please leave as quickly and _calmly_ as possible.”

A few firebenders drifted to the edges of the hangar, while the others used the interconnected lines of traverse cables to pull themselves towards the airlocks. All except for one person, lingering close to a Tugboat.

“There. Tug Four,” Mako muttered. “That must be one of them.”

“Asami, Bolin, I want you to hang back. I don’t like that we don’t have eyes on the other one. Mako, you’re with me.”

Mako fiddled with the oxygen tanks at his wrists and Asami was momentarily reminded of Korra’s own tick of checking her tanks. “Got it.”

“I’m going to switch frequencies, see if I can find the one they’re using. Maybe I can reason with them,” Lin said before there was an audible click on the comms. She placed a hand on Mako’s shoulder and he let released a burst of fire, sending them towards the Tugboat. Asami placed a steadying hand on the nearest traverse cable and felt Bolin’s fingers drum against it as they watched Mako and Lin approach Tug Four.

The figure was unaware of their presence just long enough for Mako and Lin to get close, but Lin must have found the right frequency because suddenly the figure’s head whipped over to look at them.

P’Li, for it must have been her, twisted her wrist and sent a torrent of flames in their direction. Mako easily bent it away with a hand while Lin placed both hands on Mako’s shoulders and pushed.

As she soared towards P’Li, Lin unspooled her metal cable and lashed out. P’Li sprung off the Tugboat, barely dodging the metal whip as it cracked down against the hull.

Mako, who had been pushed backwards by Lin, steadied himself with another short stream of fire. P’Li weaved around him, trying to catch him off guard, but Mako turned with her and matched her blow for blow.

The comms crackled in Asami’s ear. “Any time you guys want to the join the party,” Lin grunted as she landed hard against the Tugboat, “feel free!”

“Chief,” Bolin said as he quickly shuffled down the traverse cable towards the fight, “can you metalbend the mesh on our Tug? I need to get at those rocks!”

Asami stayed rooted to the traverse cable, at a loss for what she could do to help. She needed a weapon.

Lin reached out to Tug Two and sheared away part of the mesh. “Is that— _ugf!_ ”

While Lin had been busy the hatch of Tug Four had popped open and two legs kicked out, finding their mark against Lin’s chest.

Asami winced involuntarily as she watched Lin fly away from the Tug, curled in on herself in pain. Asami felt helpless; she wasn’t doing any good from her position. She started to pull herself up towards the edge of the hangar.

Bolin leapt hard from the cable, dragging the rocks free from the mesh and bending them into smaller, more manageable pieces. He fired them in a steady stream towards the newcomer, presumably Yorru. “Chief, you okay?” he called.

Meanwhile, Asami was at the edge of the hangar, running her fingers over the various tools pinned against the hull, looking for something, anything— _oh_.

A welding glove. Maybe if she…

Asami tore at the central panel of the glove, exposing the element within. She slipped on the glove and flexed, making the glove crackle to life, sparks running up and down the length of her fingers. It would have to do.

Yorru easily dodged Bolin’s onslaught of rocks and ducked back into the Tug for a short moment before exiting again, oxygen tank in hand. He twisted the nozzle and tore off towards Bolin, propelled by an invisible force.

“What—” was all Bolin was managed to say before Yorru picked up a huge burst of speed and collided solidly with Bolin, sending them tumbling over each other.

“Bro!” Mako shouted as he fended off another barrage of blows from P’Li. He struck out with a fiery fist but instead of warding off the blow, P’Li met his hand with her own. She wrapped her fingers around Mako’s wrist and wrenched the oxygen tank at his wrist off, sending it spinning away. Then, P’Li reared back to send a blow directly at Mako’s face.

A hard breath blew through the comms just before a metal cable wrapped around P’Li’s wrist, yanking it backwards and cracking her wrist-bound oxygen tank. “I’ve got you now!” Lin hollered triumphantly.

Lin and P’Li were locked together, spinning around each other in a wide arc. Lin retracted the cable, bringing the two together hard as they spun faster and faster. Asami heard Lin grunt harshly before severing the metal cable, sending them both spinning away from each other. Lin towards Tug Four, and P’Li straight at Asami.

Asami slid down the length of the traverse cable and narrowly ducked under P’Li, who rammed into the cable and wrapped herself around it as she scrabbled to tear the remnants of Lin’s cable from her mangled oxygen tank.

Asami reached out and looped the end of Lin’s cable around her gloved hand. She detached from the traverse cable, making sure her body was clear, before bringing the gloved hand back down, holding both cables together. Then she flexed her fingers.

If P’Li was screaming, which she must have been, Asami would never hear it. She could certainly imagine it though. As P’Li thrashed unnaturally against the traverse cable, trapped in the arc of electricity, she accidentally let loose a small burst of fire from her trapped hand. The flash caught the oxygen leaking from her broken tank and there was nothing Asami could do.

There was a brief bubble as the oxygen burned away, then exploded, sending a cascade of blood and sinew all around them. The explosion sparked brightly then collapsed in on itself, until all that was left was the percussive beat that traveled through Asami like a wave, and the carnage that was once P’Li’s forearm.

It was all Asami could do to breathe. She watched, horrified, as P’Li’s twitching fingers grasped at the mutilated stump desperately. The comms were crackling but Asami couldn’t register the words. She was too transfixed by the increasing number of droplets of blood that were springing from P’Li’s ripped suit.

“Asami! _Look out!_ ”

Asami turned just in time to avoid Yorru, who shot past her head with incredible speed. He released the oxygen tank as he got to P’Li, then moved both arms in a circle. A stream appeared, pulled from the oxygen tank, and it bubbled around P’Li’s wound, creating a stream of red-tinged air around her arm.

Asami turned from the scene. She could see Mako struggling to control his flight with only one arm after losing one of his wrist tanks. Lin had wrapped a metal cable around Bolin’s torso and was pulling his limp body towards her.

Asami was buffeted by a rush of air as Yorru flew past, completely ignoring her and heading straight for Tug Four, cradling P’Li in his arms while maintaining his control over the air around the hole in P’Li’s suit.

Mako flew unsteadily towards the Tugboat, trying to intercept them. Yorru was undeterred and steadfastly maintained his trajectory.

Mako pulled back his arm as he hovered close to the Tugboat. “Mako! Don’t—” Asami shouted.

But it was too late. Mako released a whip of fire from his hand and Yorru twisted, directing the flow of oxygen from his own tank and catching the fire. He swung his arm wide, sending the flames back at Mako and surrounding him in a blazing hurricane of his own creation.

It took only seconds for the oxygen to burn out, but it was enough time for Yorru to dive into the Tugboat with P’Li and detach from the dock.

Mako hesitated, disoriented but seemingly unharmed, as Tug Four took off down the hangar. “We have to go after them!” he yelled.

“Let it go, kid,” Lin said shortly as she pulled herself along a traverse cable, Bolin still in her arms. “Let them die out there, if P’Li isn’t dead already.”

Asami clung to the traverse cable and swallowed thickly as Yorru and P’Li flew out of the hangar and into the black.

 

—

 

_“Atmosphere pressurized.”_

Zaheer ripped off his helmet and it smacked against the console as he propelled himself away from the pilot’s seat. He let the stream of air circling P’Li’s arm dissipate, sending hundreds of droplets of her blood spinning away. Zaheer felt a few splatter against his face as he pushed himself towards her.

P’Li thrashed feebly, bumping against the ceiling as she clawed at the torn end of her sleeve. Yorru knocked her hand away and grabbed ahold of her shoulders. Even with her helmet on, he could hear her muffled, broken sobs. “I know love,” he murmured. “I know. Stay with me, you can do this.”

He pried off her helmet with some difficulty, releasing her cries into the air. _“Mmph!_ My arm— _fuck!”_

“P’Li, my love, I know it hurts but I have to take your suit off. I have to see what we’re dealing with, okay? We’re going to fix this— _P’Li!_ ” Zaheer hissed when P’Li’s eyes began to roll back. “No love, no. You have to say awake. _Wake up!_ ”

With one hand Zaheer threw down one of the crew seats and pushed P’Li into it, pulling at her suit as he did. The fabric dragged against her wound and P’Li sucked in a hard breath and her eyes shot open. _“Augh!”_ she screamed, jerking away. In the same moment Zaheer yanked hard, pulling down the shoulder of the suit and freeing her.

“That’s good! P’Li, you’re doing so good,” Zaheer said as he swept away the blood and ichor that had collected around the wound so that he could get a good look at the damage to her limb.

P’Li’s arm was black. Zaheer had gotten to her as fast as he could, and while it had been fast enough to save her life, it wasn’t quite fast enough. Exposure had eaten away further up her arm, and it was going to kill her.

P’Li, the love of his life.

“Okay,” Zaheer muttered, more to himself than P’Li as he pushed her further against the seat and tugged the harness towards her. “Put this—put this on, over your head, yes that’s it, good. Perfect, love, perfect,” he cooed as he snapped the buckles into the seat, trapping her in an upright position.

P’Li whimpered, her lip trembling, and thrust her head back against the seat. “It _hurts_ ,” she wailed.

“I know,” Zaheer said softly as he propelled himself to the back of the Tugboat, where the tools were kept in a chest of drawers attached to the floor. He tugged hard on a drawer and began to riffle through its contents. “I know it hurts, and it’s going to hurt a whole lot more before it gets better,” he said as he dug around for a specific tool. “But it _will_ get better after, okay? Can you get through it for me, love?”

P’Li didn’t answer, instead letting out a single, shuddering sob.

Zaheer found the tool he was looking for and tucked it against his side as he maneuvered back to P’Li.

P’Li’s eyes drifted to him as he approached, and she caught sight of the tool. Her eyes widened slowly and she thrashed against the harness. “No. _No!_ What are you _doing?_ ” she screeched in fear.

“Love, listen to me,” Zaheer said as he floated in front of her and grabbed ahold of her chin, forcing her to look at him. “I have to do this. Your arm—” His eyes drifted down to the stump and P’Li’s gaze followed them. When she finally looked at her severed arm, she jerked weakly in shock. “That’s rot,” Zaheer continued. He pressed gently against her bicep. “I have to take it off here. If I don’t, you’ll die, and I can’t have that.”

He yanked her chin back up and her eyes slowly focused on him again. “Do you understand me? _I can’t have that_.”

Errant tears escaped P’Li’s eyes as she held his gaze. She blinked slowly, losing energy fast, but finally gave a single nod.

“Thank you love,” Zaheer said as he brandished the rock saw. “You can’t pass out, you hear me? I need your fire. I need your fire, then you can sleep, okay?”

P’Li looked away and shut her eyes, more tears seeping out from under her eyelids. “Okay,” she agreed hoarsely.

Zaheer said nothing else, instead spinning up the saw. He swallowed hard, braced a hand against P’Li’s shoulder, and pressed forward.

P’Li screamed. She screamed over the sounds of cracking bone and tearing muscle until her voice broke, utterly spent. Then, she vomited.

The rotted sinew and flesh fell away, and Zaheer used another rush of air to sweep away the bile from P’Li’s mouth so she wouldn’t choke.

“P’Li, I need your fire now, love, c’mon, right now,” Zaheer ordered loudly as he tugged P’Li’s other hand towards her fresh wound. “Right _now_ , P’Li!”

P’Li gurgled and coughed, flecks of bile escaping her mouth. She bit her lip and whimpered, pinching her eyes shut again before sparking a flame into the palm of her hand.

Zaheer wasted no time and immediately pressed her palm against her wound. P’Li screeched and gnashed her teeth, but didn’t try to pull away. Her skin hissed and popped until she finally went limp, unconscious.

Zaheer rushed out a harsh breath. The wound was ugly, but sufficiently cauterized. He pressed a palm against P’Li’s face and rubbed a bloody thumb against her cheek. A few droplets of blood escaped from where P’Li had bit down on her lip. “You did it love,” Zaheer whispered as he pressed a kiss against her hairline. “Sleep now.”

Zaheer surveyed their surroundings. The remnants of P’Li’s arm floated freely, blood and vomit and flesh alike. Zaheer collected it all on a stream of air and locked it into one of the chests designed for rock samples, leaving the Tugboat clean except for the wayward splotches on the hull. He checked to make sure P’Li was still breathing—she was—then returned to the pilot’s seat. He let out a long sigh and leaned his head back.

While P’Li had been in danger, Zaheer had just _acted_. He had neatly compartmentalized what was happening to focus on just saving P’Li. Nothing else had mattered. But now, in the silence after the storm, Zaheer was struck by their circumstances.

Just a few days ago everything had been fine. Korra was unaware of Zaheer’s true nature and was still on Republic. He and P’Li were happy, even if their purpose in life wasn’t being fulfilled. How had it gone so wrong so fast?

Now they were in a small Tugboat, drifting through space. They had the coordinates for Earth, but it was going to be hard to get there with the meager supplies they had managed to collect before Lin and the others had confronted them. Korra’s escape pod had traveled much faster than the Tugboat was capable of; it was possible, even likely, that they would starve before ever reaching Earth.

Zaheer gazed back at P’Li, her head lolling against the harness.

No.

They would survive. They had to. It was their destiny to survive. If it wasn’t, P’Li would be dead. P’Li would be dead and Zaheer would be lost.

But there was work to be done. Zaheer would get to Earth, for that was his destiny too, and he would get to work. He would find Korra. He would undo the mess he had made when he had sent her to the one place the Red Lotus didn’t want her.

He would bring the Avatar to their side, or kill her.

Zaheer plugged in the coordinates for Earth. It was time to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (whistles nonchalantly while dialing my therapist)
> 
> ~this is the story of a lovely beta  
> who was fixing up this very crazy fic  
> i don't know why she does this for me, it's really hard  
> and i've clearly gone insane
> 
> the osmrice, the osmrice,  
> that's the way she became the osmrice~


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discord and disconnect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [24-27](https://open.spotify.com/user/golarisa/playlist/4pRCjIP2FzpCfZueqCCEcA)

-Eight-

_“You look beautiful.”_

_Korra fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I’m wearing a mask, Mako.”_

_“Ah-uh, yeah, but… that dress…” His eyes trailed down the length of Korra’s body before snapping back up to meet her eyes. “I mean,_ wow _.”_

_Korra smiled fondly as she pulled up her mask to rest on her head. “And to think, you didn’t even want to go to this at first.”_

_Mako unconsciously smoothed out his pressed, red shirt. “That was before the dress,” he said with a smirk._

_“Well,” Korra said as she affectionately cupped his cheek, “you clean up pretty nice yourself.”_

_Mako flushed, pleased. “You think so?”_

_“Mmhm.” Korra leaned in to kiss him, but just before their lips met, she playfully tugged his mask down over his face. “Now let’s go! We’re gonna be late!” she crowed before grasping his hand and tugging him out of the bunkroom._

_Mako grunted in surprise and adjusted his mask with his free hand so he could see out of it. “What’s the hurry? Aren’t we supposed to be fashionably late to these things?”_

_Korra sidestepped around a man in a rather elaborate, winged costume, who was clearly having trouble seeing out of his mask. “Only if we want all of the food to be gone. We haven’t had cantaloupe in_ so _long,” she told him over her shoulder. “A lot of people are probably already in the atrium.”_

 _No one knew exactly why there was a holiday devoted to honoring spirits. Korra wasn’t even clear on what a spirit_ was _, let alone why they should honor them. But, the opportunities to relax a little, to let loose, were few and far between, and some vague Earth holiday was as good of an excuse as any. Everyone just accepted it and pretended for a moment that they were all on Earth, a planet no one alive had ever seen or was even sure existed, and honored the relationship between humans and non-existent creatures by dressing in colorful costumes and eating in excess._

_There were stranger things, to be sure. And it was the first time Korra was old enough to go to the formal party, and she wasn’t going to miss it, even if she had to drag Mako kicking and screaming._

_The atrium was lit up, beautifully transformed from its normal state. The couches were pushed against the walls, covered in colorful cloth. The overhead lights had been dimmed, and the mirrors that gave the atrium its illusionary airy quality were draped in small, twinkling bulbs that cast their glow in every direction._

_Along one wall were several tables piled high with fresh fruits, vegetables and decorated with tree clippings and branches. It was part of the theme, the idea that fresh food was plentiful on Earth and that they didn’t have to worry about freeze drying or otherwise preserving food for long periods of time. Korra knew it hadn’t been easy. The garden workers had had to meticulously plan in order to get that much fresh food in a room all at once. Its effect was undeniably effective though; whether or not it was real—the spirits, Earth, any of it—didn’t matter. At least not then._

_Bolin was already there, hovering around the table and enthusiastically piling food onto his plate. “Esh-ka, you haff to try dis!” He waved a bunch of grapes in Eska’s face and swallowed his mouthful. “These are raisins! Before they’re raisins!”_

_Eska eyed the grapes for a brief second before bringing up a single finger and drawing out the water from the grapes in a slow stream, withering them on the vine. “Would you look at that,” she said tonelessly as she glided past him and started to inspect a plate of vegetables._

_Bolin frowned at the raisins for a moment before finally shrugging and began happily pulling the raisins off the vine with his teeth. “Hey guys!” he greeted when he spotted Korra and Mako walking over. “Raisin?”_

_Mako shook his head and reached past Bolin, plucking a single grape from the table and popping it into his mouth. “I’m good, bro, thanks.”_

_“Where’s your mask, Bolin?” Korra asked as she eyed the spread herself._

_“Oh…” Bolin hesitated and glanced over his shoulder. “It’s right here.” He tugged it out of his back pocket and held it in front of his face. “Eska made it.”_

_It was completely blank. Just a white, plastic mask with an elastic band attached to it. No eyeholes, or any other adornments whatsoever. “It’s…” he lowered his voice, “it’s a bit hard to see out of.”_

_Korra had to duck behind Mako’s back to hide her snicker, while Mako searched for the right words. “Oh… uh, wow, bro. That’s… that’s great.”_

_Bolin dropped his hands and sighed. “I know, I know. But it was just so…_ nice _of her—”_

_“Bolin!” Eska called from the other end of the table. “Come here and procure some of these grey fungi for me. They look delicious.”_

_“Coming!” Bolin called as he pulled on his mask, snapping the elastic into place and then running his hands down the length of the table, feeling his way to Eska. “Just—just a second!”_

_Mako looked torn between laughing and sighing. “I should help him,” he mumbled before following after his brother._

_Korra pulled up her mask a little to accommodate shoving a strawberry into her mouth. The fresh juice ran down her chin and she hastily wiped it away, embarrassed, as she cast her eyes around self-consciously._

_It took a moment then for her brain to catch up to what her eyes saw._

_Asami had just walked in—Korra knew instantly that it was her, despite the mask—and she was_ glowing _._

_Literally._

_Asami’s dress was a muted, ethereal blue, gradually trailing down into a partially transparent white. There were dozens of tiny bulbs sewn into the fabric, twisting all over her body and twinkling softly in the dim light. She had long, white gloves that came to her elbows and a mask to match, white and blue and only covering the top half of her face. Her hair, completely unrestrained, fell down around her mask in long curls._

_Korra let out a short, hurried gasp when she realized she had been holding her breath and let her mask snap back over her face. There was an odd, hollow ache in her chest and a warmth in her stomach she couldn’t quite place._

_Asami didn’t notice her at first, which allowed Korra the opportunity to stare unabashedly. Asami was at her father’s side, making her way around the room. No one had a costume like Asami’s—no one. She outclassed them all, even those who had clearly been planning their outfits for ages._

_As Hiroshi engaged in conversation with Su, Asami’s eyes roamed the room. Korra couldn’t manage to look away, even when she knew Asami would catch her staring. She was captivating, and it was as if Korra had never actually_ seen _Asami before, had never realised just exactly how beautiful she really was._

_Asami’s green eyes, shining from beneath her mask, locked with Korra’s and she smiled brilliantly. Korra struggled to return it, dizzy as she was._

_Before she realized, Korra had already met Asami half way across the room._

_“Hey,” Asami greeted with a gentle smile. “You look beautiful.”_

_Korra felt her face grow warm, and she stuttered, “Wha—buh,_ Asami _, never mind me, look at you!”_

_Asami seemed genuinely startled. “Oh, um, yeah? You like it? I’ve never done anything with fabric before so this was kind of new…” She looked shy as she awkwardly tugged on one of her gloves._

_Korra took her hand, stilling it. The gloves were smooth and cool against her fingers. “It’s incredible! How did you do it?”_

_Asami left her hand in Korra’s and gestured with her free one. “Oh, it wasn’t that hard. Well—I did have to steal the lights from storage before they decorated the atrium, and that took some time, but sewing them wasn’t too bad, and I attached a battery pack to the back of it and—”_

_“Wow, Asami! I almost didn’t recognize you!” Mako exclaimed as he walked over and put an arm around Korra’s back, settling his hand on her hip. “That is an awesome dress.”_

_Asami’s smile pressed in on itself, and her face lost its open, infectious enthusiasm. She slipped her hand from Korra’s. “Thanks, Mako.”_

_“You’re beautiful,” Korra said sincerely, and again, Asami looked vaguely surprised. “Er—_ it’s _beautiful,” Korra corrected herself. “It’s incredible, really.”_

_“Thank you.” Asami bowed her head a little and smiled politely, but it wasn’t genuine. Not like Korra knew it could be. It was strained, and unbefitting of Asami._

_Mako looked down at Korra. “Do you want to dance?”_

_“Ah—um, okay,” Korra agreed as she watched Asami move smoothly around them._

_Mako took her hand and led her out to the dance floor, a smile on his face. “Thanks for making me come,” he said quietly as he took her into his arms. “This is pretty nice, actually.”_

_Korra smiled back, looking into his eyes as he led her around the dance floor. “I’m glad you came.”_

_But when Korra leaned her head against Mako’s chest, it wasn’t his heartbeat she heard, despite it beating strongly under her ear. Instead it was Asami’s laughter, from all the way across the room._  


—  


“It’s the Red Lotus. They’ve found us.”

Korra weaved around a fallen chunk of the temple ceiling and caught back up to Bumi. “What— _how?_ What do we do?”

“We stick to the plan,” Bumi said as he turned a sharp corner. “Tenzin and Kya will buy us time and we get Pema and the kids out of here.”

“You have a _plan?_ ” Korra asked a little incredulously. “You knew this would happen?”

Bumi gave her an impatient glance. “Well we obviously hoped it wouldn’t, but a soldier must always have a contingency plan.”

As they continued to run, the temple shuddered and the sounds of a fight became clearer. They sprinted past the wide windows that looked out on the courtyard and Korra could see what must have been almost a dozen people, all clad in red and black with armor patterning their arms. In the midst of them was Kya, just barely keeping them at bay with blasts of water and ice.

“Bumi!” Korra shouted as she tugged on his shoulder and pointed.

Bumi followed her gaze and frowned deeply. “We have to stick to the plan! There’s a secret pass—”

Bumi’s eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks when one of the Red Lotus landed a lucky shot against Kya’s stomach, sending her skidding away across the courtyard. “I’ll go!” Korra said as she started to climb through one of the archways.

Bumi wrapped a hand around her wrist. “No! We can’t risk them knowing you’re here. Go to the western most tower; there’s a study where Pema will be waiting. Lead them through the secret passage and make sure they get out, okay?”

“Bumi, I don’t—”

Bumi gave her a rough shove. “Just get going!” he snarled before vaulting through the archway and running out onto the courtyard. “Come and get me, Red Lotus scum!”

Korra hesitated, torn between whether to follow Bumi, or to find the tower as he’d asked. She knew he was a capable fighter, but he wasn’t a bender. What could he do against the Red Lotus?

But Bumi was counting on Korra to make sure that Pema and the kids got out safely. He was entrusting her with his family.

Korra balled her fists tightly before letting out a frustrated growl and resuming her sprint down the hall in search of the west most tower.

Korra thought she had been getting the hang of navigating the massive temple, but apparently not. The crumbling walls and collapsed pillars only made it more confusing, and Korra was forced to backtrack multiple times.

She managed it though, and when she finally found the tower she took the steps three at a time until she heard Pema’s voice. “Lift the trapdoor. If Bumi isn’t here in a few minutes we’ll go without him.”

“Pema!” Korra gasped as she staggered into the study and leaned heavily on the doorframe, trying to catch her breath. “We have to go now,” she panted.

“Where—where’s Bumi?” Pema asked nervously as she repositioned Rohan in her arms.

“He’s okay,” Korra reassured her. “He’s with Kya. He asked me to go with you.”

After a pause, Pema gave a determined nod. “Alright kids, let’s go.”

Jinora frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but Pema put a hand out and cut her off. “This isn’t up for debate. Your father and aunt and uncle can take care of themselves. We stick to the plan, just like your father said.”

Jinora looked as if she were going to argue, but Korra gently bumped her shoulder. “Help me get them out of here, yeah?”

Jinora deflated a little at that and she finally nodded. “Fine.”

The telltale sound of pounding feet echoed loudly from the hallway, and Meelo flung open the trapdoor with a rush of air. “Let’s go, people!” he crowed as he jumped onto the revealed stairwell and began to descend.

Korra ushered the others in after him as a hooded figure appeared at the door. He turned away from the door and called, “In here!” just before Korra kicked a fireball hard into his chest. He slammed against the opposite wall and Korra caved in the stone around the door, closing off the room.

She ran down the stairs after Pema, shutting the trapdoor and fusing the metal latch together. “We have to hurry, they know we’re here.”

The stairs were winding and steep and seemed as if they would go on forever. “This mountain really seemed a lot less tall from Oogi’s back,” Korra observed dryly with a nervous glance over her shoulder.

After a few minutes there was a loud crash above them. “Hurry,” Pema urged, pressing Rohan closer against her chest and picking up the pace.

The shouts and heavy footfalls were gaining on them quickly. “We don’t have time for this,” Korra muttered as she stopped. “Keep going!” she ordered.

She could feel the soft steps of Pema and the kids disappear further down the stairs as their pursuers appeared above her. Korra stomped down hard and forced the steps above her to recede into a smooth incline. There were frantic, confused shouts as several Red Lotus crashed down onto the ramp and slid towards her. Korra grasped the stone along the wall and pulled, making several rows of stone shoot out, catching several Red Lotus and pinning them against the opposite wall. Korra suppressed a small, satisfied smile.

Korra felt her rows of stone crumble away and she managed to duck just in time to avoid a huge chunk of stone. She bounced away further down the stairs as the boulder broke against the wall.

The stairwell was so narrow that Korra had very little room to maneuver. Thankfully, neither did the Red Lotus. The earthbender tore several stones from the wall and fired them at Korra, making the wall next to him crack under the weight of the stones above. Korra smacked the projectiles away easily as the earthbender was forced to bend the wall, preventing it from caving in on top of him.

Korra used the opportunity to get close, jumping up high and cracking the earthbender across the face with a knee before coming down hard, using the force of her momentum to propel a wave of stone up the stairs. It knocked the Red Lotus everywhere, into each other and the walls until they lay, crumpled, all over the stairs.

Korra let her grin bloom all over her face. _“Yes,”_ she hissed as she pumped a fist excitedly.

Then, underneath her feet, Korra felt a _shift_.

The cracked wall buckled, causing all of the stones in the stairwell to loosen and fall away, one by one. Korra felt all of the blood in her face rush away as she realized what had happened.

Korra ripped the pauldron from one of the Red Lotus’ shoulders and smoothed the stairs below her into a ramp. She flattened the pauldron and jumped, tucking it under her feet.

She slid down the ramp backwards, precariously balanced on her small, metal sheet and _pressed_ against the force of the entire stairwell that was coming down around her. She couldn’t keep it from collapsing; it simply wasn’t possible, but hopefully she could buy Pema and the kids—and _herself_ —enough time to get out of the damned mountain.

It wasn’t all that different from penguin sledding, really, except for the terrifying mountain of cut stone chasing her in waves down a narrow passageway and the loud scraping of metal making sparks under her feet.

Just when Korra thought she wouldn’t be able to outrun the destruction, the air shifted. It lightened, and light filtered in from behind her. Korra chanced a glance behind her just as her metal sheet slipped through the doorway and sank into the soft dirt, throwing Korra backwards. She rolled away, clear of the stones that poured out of the stairwell until the doorway was completely blocked by crumbled stone.

“Korra!” Jinora shouted in surprise and worry. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Korra coughed, sending a cloud of dust into the air. She breathed deeply, reveling in the feel of the grass under her. “I don’t think they’ll be following us.”

Jinora giggled and eyed the stones that had collected at the base of the mountain. “No, I don’t suppose they will.”

“Okay,” Korra said as she stood and dusted herself off. “Where do we meet the others?”

“There’s a forest a little south of the mountain range,” Pema said as she distractedly dusted off Korra’s shoulder. “Bumi hid a tent and a few other essent—” Pema trailed off, her eyes drifting upwards. “Oh no…”

Korra whirled around to follow Pema’s gaze up to see dozens of Red Lotus descending down the side of the mountain.

They looked identical to the other hooded Red Lotus Korra had already encountered, except for one figure. She had long, black hair that framed her thin face. In place of arms, she was using several long tendrils of water to cling to the side of the mountain as she looked down on them with a vicious smile. “Take them,” she rasped.

“Run!” Korra shouted, bringing up a curved wall of rock to shield them from the fireballs raining down around them.

But it was too late. The Red Lotus were everywhere, dropping down and closing in. Meelo and Ikki stood protectively in front of Pema and Rohan, their hands out in a familiar stance. Jinora stood next to Korra, a frown on her lips. “We have to distract them long enough for Mom to get away,” she muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

“Right,” Korra agreed as she peeked out from behind the wall. “Take the right—oh, _fuck_.”

The Red Lotus were practically on top of them. Korra kicked her protective wall, sending it sliding along the ground into the first Red Lotus. He lashed out blindly with a fire whip, but it was extinguished as he hit the ground, the rock wall crumbling overtop of him. Korra leapt over the mound and fired twin blasts of fire at the next two Red Lotus before landing atop another one, pressing him into the ground and burying him under dirt.

Korra cast a glance at Jinora just in time to see her spin around several ice spears. “Jinora!” Korra shouted as she reached out for the mysterious waterbender.

She took hold of one of the tendrils of water, hoping to distract the waterbender. It worked. The woman spun around, and immediately used her water tentacles to raise her body into the air. Korra kicked several chunks of stone at her, but the woman avoided them easily.

And didn’t retaliate.

Korra bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting for an attack that would never come. The woman simply regarded her coolly from her position above, as if she was considering something.

 _“Korra!”_ Jinora screeched, and Korra’s gaze left the waterbender to find her, wide-eyed and mouth gaping, pointing up at the mountain.

Thick rivulets of molten rock were running down the side of the mountain, like condensation on glass. More was coming, pouring over the edge where the temple courtyard began and coating everything in its path.

The waterbender slid easily away, her tentacles running along the ground and carrying her along the side of the mountain. “Let’s go!” she shouted over her shoulder, almost like an afterthought.

The remaining Red Lotus hesitated, looking after the waterbender in confusion for a moment before following her into the trees and out of sight.

Jinora was still staring up in horror at the lava, which inched closer with each passing second. Korra rushed over and, as gently as she could, tugged on Jinora’s arm. “There’s nothing we can do, let’s go.”

Jinora turned to Korra with tearful eyes. “My dad…”

Korra crouched by Jinora to meet her eye. “I’m sure they’re fine. They have Oogi, right? Let’s go meet them.”

Jinora swallowed but seemed to come back to herself. “O-okay.”

As they ran into the forest, Korra kept one eye fixed on the mountain. Her thoughts, however, weren’t with the temple or the lava. They were with a small box with a satellite dish attached to it—the very box that contained her heart, still on the windowsill in her room.  


—  


“How are you feeling?” Asami asked as she took a seat in one of the chairs next to the infirmary bed.

Bolin shrugged against the mountain of pillows at his back. “Okay, I guess. Still a little… _rocky_.”

Asami pressed her lips into a thin line. “I’ll just go ahead and attribute that to the head trauma.”

Mako snorted. “You can probably attribute the fact that he’s made that joke six times already to the head trauma too.” He leaned back in his chair, rocking a little on its back legs. Behind him, a small radio quietly played a jaunty melody, one Asami had never heard before.

Bolin turned his thickly bandaged head to squint at his brother. “Aw c’mon Mako, don’t be so _stony._ ”

Mako let out a long groan. “I’m starting to wish you had gotten hit by something else. _Anything_ else.”

“Okay, okay wait. Um... how about—”

“Hey Bolin,” Asami interrupted as she leaned closer to the radio. “Is this… is this that colony radio station?”

“Yeah!” Bolin said excitedly. “ _‘You’re listening to Ba Sing Se Radioo!’_ Man, I love that guy.”

“You’ve been listening to it a lot?”

“Oh totally, it’s really great. There’s so much music, and sometimes there are segments where they talk about the news or the _weather_. The weather! On Earth!” Bolin squeaked gleefully. “It’s all anyone can talk about, even here!”

Asami looked around the infirmary. It was mostly empty, with only a few other occupied beds, but each one had its own identical radio. “Really? People are listening to it?”

“Are you surprised?” Mako asked as he set his chair back down. “Word was bound to get out, how could anyone resist listening to it?”

“I guess I shouldn’t be, but it honestly hadn’t really occurred to me.”

Mako gave her a soft, understanding smile. “You’ve been a bit preoccupied.”

“Yeah Asami, you’ve been taking it for _granite_.”

Mako smacked a hand against his forehead. “Bolin, _stop_. That one didn’t even make sense!”

Asami barely suppressed an amused smile. “I’d better go; I just wanted to see how you were doing before I went to meet the council.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Mako said as he rose from his chair. “Bolin should really be napping anyway, right bro? The nurse said to get some rest.”

“Yeah,” Bolin sighed resignedly. “That sounds good. I’m going to sleep like a _rock_.”

“Good _bye_ , Bolin!” Asami said loudly as she walked away.

Mako trailed after her. “What’s going on with the council?”

Asami grimaced. “I don’t know. Probably some sort of inquiry with Lin after… well, everything.”

Mako gave her a sympathetic look as they came to the infirmary door. “Ah. Well, good luck. I’ll see you later? At the department?”

Asami brightened a little. She had forgotten her earlier promise. “Sure! Aux shift starts soon, let’s meet then? My meeting should be over and we can radio Korra.”

Mako grinned. “Awesome, I can’t wait.”

The walk to the council chambers was short—too short, if Asami was being honest. It had only been sixteen hours since the attack and already the council wanted to grill Asami on what had happened. And presumably, on what had gone wrong.

“Oh, they dragged you in for this too, huh? I guess that makes sense.” Lin was leaning against the wall by the chamber doors, looking thoroughly disgruntled.

“I’m sure they’re looking for any reason to be mad at me. Raiko is still furious that I contacted Earth without their knowledge.”

“Or permission,” Lin pointed out helpfully with a ghost of a smile.

Asami let out a short chuckle. “Or permission.”

The council doors slid open, and Su peeked her head out. “We’re ready for you—oh good Asami, you’re here. I’m sorry about all this.”

Asami shrugged. “It’s okay. I understand.”

“I don’t,” Lin groused as she and Asami followed Su into the council chambers. Lin, like Asami, chose to ignore the chairs in the middle of the room and stood by the desk instead. She folded her arms over her chest and regarded the room with thinly veiled contempt.

Su rolled her eyes. “Sit down, will you? You make me nervous.”

Lin sneered at her sister. “You’re the one with the dramatic room and the bench two feet off the floor.”

Su sank into her seat and looked down at Lin. “Point taken.”

Lin surveyed the rest of the council and arched an eyebrow. “Well?” she asked the room.

“Thank you for joining us,” Raiko started formally. “We’re here to discuss the matter of what occurred—”

“With all due respect,” Lin interrupted in a tone that didn’t exactly exude respect, “we know why we’re here. Can we fast forward to the questions?”

Raiko’s lips twisted, as if he had tasted something sour. “Very well. How did you come to suspect that Yorru and P’Li were responsible for the attack against Korra?”

“Korra told me,” Asami said quickly, eager to take control of the conversation away from Lin. “She told me that Yorru was— _is_ —an airbender, and that he and P’Li attacked her and jettisoned the escape pod.”

Su leaned forward over her desk. “I’m sorry, an… an _air_ bender?”

“It’s what it sounds like,” Lin drawled. “I saw him in the hangar. With oxygen tanks.”

“Oh, _great_ ,” Raiko said wryly, “and I suppose—”

Asami cut him off. “Korra told me that there are other people on Earth that can airbend as well.”

“I see,” Su mused, ignoring Raiko’s grumbling.

Tonraq finally spoke. “Why did they attack Korra?”

“I… I don’t know,” Asami admitted slowly.

“Korra doesn’t know why either?” Tonraq pressed.

“If she does she didn’t say.” Asami supposed that there were a great many things she could have asked Korra, but at the time, none of that mattered as much as the few minutes of speaking to her. Those moments had been too precious, too important.

“What were P’Li and Yorru doing in the hangar?” Hiroshi asked.

“I don’t know for sure but—”

“What _do_ you know?” Raiko asked impatiently.

Asami swallowed a flash of ire. “As I was about to say, we suspect that they were planning to leave. With Korra alive, they must have known it was only a matter of time before they were confronted.”

“And where, exactly, would they be fleeing to?” Izumi asked, a little incredulously.

“To Earth, where else?” Lin bit out, as if it was a belief she had held her entire life. Asami appreciated it on some level, she supposed.

Raiko scoffed. “That’s preposterous—”

“Regardless, it’s the only explanation that makes any sense at all,” Asami insisted.

“It’s my understanding that several Tugboats have been sabotaged,” Hiroshi said pointedly as he inspected a few laminates in front of him. “Could it be that they never intended to leave at all? Perhaps they were only attempting to disable the Tugboats?”

Asami swallowed. “I… I suppose—”

“That was something I had considered,” Lin answered, as if Asami hadn’t spoken. “But that would not explain the missing supplies from dry storage. They must have intended to leave in a Tugboat, even if it was for a short time.”

Raiko pounded a fist on the table, startling half the room. “This is inconsequential. The point is, you confronted them, without backup—”

Lin bristled. “Backup was on its way. Time was short and I hoped to resolve the matter peacefully—”

“But you didn’t!”

“... No. I didn’t.”

There were several slow seconds of silence before Izumi gently cleared her throat. “How bad is the damage to the Tugboats?” she asked Hiroshi.

Hiroshi shuffled a few laminates. “Three were damaged internally, and two externally during the… attempt to bring Yorru and P’Li in. Additionally, a few of the docking mechanisms were broken.”

There was a collective shudder throughout the room. “That’s… that’s devastating,” Su said quietly.

Asami swallowed, mortified. Su wasn’t wrong. Having five Tugboats unable to collect resources _was_ devastating. And it was partly her fault—

“I think I’ve heard enough,” Raiko stated evenly. “Hiroshi, I want a plan from you by the end of the Auxiliary shift on how we’re going to repair those Tugboats as quickly as possible.” He turned to Lin. “Chief Beifong. Not only did two criminals escape, but they did severe damage to our hangar and Tugboats before leaving. You can see why I might call your competence into question.”

Asami heard the subtle click of Lin grinding her teeth together, but Su spoke first. “The fact remains that Yorru and P’Li were easily overlooked. They had never caused any problems in the past and there was no reason to suspect that they had any ill will against Korra at all.”

“That’s a great comfort, Su, thank you,” Tonraq mumbled bitterly.

Su shot him a look, but it softened after a moment. “We should warn the colonies,” she continued. “If Yorru and P’Li really are trying to make it to Earth, they should know.”

“I agree,” Tonraq said as he straightened a little in his seat. “I don’t know why we haven’t already made contact.”

“What? You haven’t attempted to contact the colonies yet?” Asami asked, confused.

Su looked down and folded her hands over her desk, as if reluctant to meet Asami’s eye. “We are still evaluating the risks associated with revealing our approach to Earth. There is clearly something larger at work than we know, considering the state of the planet.”

“We can’t risk entangling ourselves in Earth’s problems, when we can barely handle our own.” Raiko said, with a pointed look at Tonraq

“Oh, but we’ll use Earth to save ourselves, no problem,” Lin retorted with a snort.

“Said with your usual tact, Lin, bravo,” Izumi said dryly, leaning back further in her seat.

“The fact remains,” Hiroshi said loudly, “that there is very little time before we will be too close to Earth to pull away from its gravity. We have to make a decision soon as to what we plan to do when the time comes.”

Asami’s lips parted slightly, her eyes glazed. “You’re seriously considering not rejoining Earth.”

“We’re considering all possibilities,” Su said diplomatically, “especially now that several of our Tugboats have been compromised, which puts us in quite a tough spot.”

Asami’s world tilted. The idea that Republic would deliberately pull away, to choose to continue on its orbit, was unfathomable. Republic couldn’t survive another five hundred years on its own. It was simply impossible. Not rejoining Earth meant that Republic would shrivel and eventually die.

And, it meant that Asami would never see Korra again.

Asami was aware of Lin speaking next to her, and Raiko’s irritable response, but the words held no meaning. She spun on a heel, muttering something as she did, and strode from the room.

On the walk back to the department, Asami tried to calm herself down. It would be fine, it _had_ to be fine. Surely, the council would see that they had no other choice but to rejoin Earth’s other colonies. There was too much at stake to take such an enormous risk.

She tried to ignore the tiny voice that told her that the council might be at least a little bit right.

Something was wrong with Earth—that much was undeniable—and if it affected the planet’s resources, then it offered very little to Republic. It might be better off not tying itself to the fate of the planet, because Earth’s gravitational pull was simply too enormous. Eventually the force needed to escape would become too great, and Republic would be trapped.

Asami needed to talk to Korra. Not to tell her, necessarily, or to get answers—though both would be a good idea—but just to hear her voice. To know she was alright, to feed that tiny bubble of hope lodged in her chest that sustained her.

Prime shift had already ended, so the department was empty when she arrived. She sank into her desk chair and gazed at her newly modified clock. Republic operated on twenty hour rotations, but an Earth day was twenty-four hours. Asami had had to repurpose her alarm clock to show Earth time so that she could more easily track when she could talk to Korra. According to the clock, she had ten minutes until Republic and Earth were aligned correctly.

Asami wasn’t accustomed to waiting. Not since Korra had been attacked, anyway. There was always something to be done, something to keep her mind occupied and the doubt at bay. But now, left alone in the silence with nothing but her thoughts, Asami’s mind was free to drift.

When she closed her eyes, Asami could still see P’Li’s body twitching and contorting inhumanly. She could still see the wave of the explosion, ballooning out and spreading what was left of P’Li’s arm in every direction. She could see P’Li frantically, _uselessly_ clawing at the torn edges of her space suit.

Best case, Asami had only _maimed_ P’Li. Worst—and most likely—case, Asami had killed her. It hadn’t been her intention, but it had happened and it was Asami’s fault.

She let out a long, shaky breath and opened her eyes, blinking away the image of P’Li’s body, twisting in pain as Yorru had dragged her away.

Only a few minutes to go. Asami tugged on the headphones just as Mako jogged into the room. “I’m not late, am I?” he puffed.

Asami smiled genuinely, relieved to see him. “No, you’re just in time.” She opened a work bench drawer, pulling out a second set of headphones and plugging them in before handing them to Mako. “How’s Bolin?”

Mako made a face. “Oh, he _rocks_.”

Asami laughed as she tuned the radio frequency. “I’m glad he’s in good spirits.”

“So how does this work?” Mako asked, gesturing at the console.

“Much like any radio frequency,” Asami said with a frown as the headphones filled with static. “Only Earth has to be in the right position…” she trailed off, confused.

“Is something wrong?”

“It wasn’t this hard to make contact before…” Every moment that went by without Korra, without even a _blip_ from the escape pod radio, Asami’s heart sank. “Something’s wrong.”

“Maybe she just isn’t there. She could be busy, or she lost track of time,” Mako suggested.

That didn’t sound right. That didn’t sound like Korra. “I don’t know…”

“Are you sure you got the time right?”

Asami shot him a look and Mako put his hands up defensively. “Er—right, no, of course you did. What was I thinking? Never mind.”

Mako was probably right. Korra was probably fine, just preoccupied with her training or any number of other things.

So why did Asami’s chest feel so heavy, as if her small, precious bubble of hope had just popped?  


—  


Korra sighed, letting the air out through her mouth in a long rush until there was nothing left in her lungs. From where she was, lying on the forest floor somewhere south of the temple, she could just barely connect the stars that made up Xuan Wu. It was beautiful, it always was, but its beauty only made her chest ache more.

Somewhere, in the unfathomable space between Korra and Xuan Wu, was Asami. And somewhere, miles behind Korra and inside a ruined temple, were the charred remains of their tenuous link.

How could Korra have been so stupid—so _careless_ —as to leave behind the escape pod radio? It was like leaving behind Republic and all of the people she loved within. It was like leaving behind Asami.

And now Korra was lost again.

“Korra?” There was a rustling of leaves behind her as Ikki brushed aside some undergrowth. “There you are!”

Korra sat up slowly, turning to look at her. “Here I am,” she said softly.

Ikki had folded up her shirt into a makeshift pocket, where she carried a rather large collection of lychee. “I brought you some lychee nuts if you want.”

“That’s sweet of you. But no thanks, you go ahead.”

“Oh, okay…” Ikki lingered, hesitating between staying and returning to the camp where the others were.

“What’s up?” Korra patted the ground next to her in invitation. “Want to join me?”

Ikki wandered over and plopped down next to her, sending lychees spilling into her lap. She pinched one between her fingers and its skin cracked open, spraying Korra with juice. “Hey!”

“Sorry,” Ikki said, not sounding very sorry at all. “Want this one?” She offered it to Korra on an outstretched palm.

Korra rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Fine, if you _insist_.”

Ikki smirked as she cracked another lychee open and popped it into her mouth. “I knew yoo coudn’ resis!”

“Yeah, well,”—Korra spat out the pit a rather impressive distance—“we don’t have these on Republic.”

Ikki hummed a little before awkwardly spitting out her own pit in an attempt to mimic Korra. It fell from her lips and landed on her knee, where she quickly flicked it away. Korra watched the motion from the corner of her eye and bit her lip to keep from giggling.

“What’s space like?” Ikki asked casually, determinedly not looking at Korra.

Korra closed her eyes and imagined being inside of her spacesuit, floating freely alongside her Tugboat and looking out into the darkness through her visor. “It’s _big_ ,” she finally breathed. “It’s so big that it’s almost small.”

Ikki snorted. “That doesn’t make any sense!”

Korra smiled, but didn’t open her eyes. “There’s nothing for so long, your focus just sort of narrows to what is immediately around you. Because thinking about how much _nothing_ and how much _infinite_ is around you can get kind of overwhelming.” Ikki hummed again and Korra added, “It’s very dark, too. Whatever your light doesn’t touch, might as well not even be there.”

Korra cracked open an eye and caught Ikki pouting contemplatively. “But what about all those stars? Do you not see those?”

“Oh no, we definitely still see them. There are even _more_ when you’re up there.”

Ikki’s eyes widened. “Have you ever seen one up close? In space?” she asked with an open, innocent expression.

Korra chuckled and swung her head to the side. “Yes, and so have you. We’re pretty close to the Sun.”

“The Sun is a _star?_ ”

Korra slumped forward, resting her elbows on her knees before snatching another lychee from Ikki’s lap. “Yep! And all those stars out there? They’re even _bigger_.”

Ikki looked down at her pile of lychee and carefully selected another. “Do you think there are people over there by those stars, looking at the Sun?”

Korra shrugged. “Maybe… who knows? There’s a lot of space out there. But the light from those stars takes a really long time to get to us. By the time we see a star, that star might already be gone.”

“Gone? Like, dead?”

“Yeah, they die,” Korra said before firing another seed out from between her teeth.

Ikki was quiet for a long moment, and when she finally spoke Korra had to strain to hear her. “Jinora thinks Dad and Uncle Bumi and Aunt Kya are dead.”

“What?” Korra exclaimed, startled. “She said that?”

“No, but she doesn’t have to. I can see it”—she gestured vaguely to her face—“here. It’s been a whole day…”

Korra ground her teeth, unsure of what to say. “I… I know it’s scary to be apart from them, but soon they’ll come find you and we’ll all be together again, you’ll see. Everything will be okay.”

“Yeah…” Ikki agreed softly, as if she didn’t quite believe it. “Is that how you feel about your family too? Are you scared because you’re not with them?”

Korra bit her lip, and after a few slow seconds, she sighed, “Yes.”

Ikki looked as if she were about to say something else, but she stopped, suddenly straightening her back and tilting her head.

Korra looked around nervously. “What… what is it?”

Suddenly Ikki shot to her feet, sending the lychee nuts tumbling all over the forest floor. Then, Korra heard it. The sound of something large beating against the air. _“Oogi!”_ Ikki squealed before taking off, back towards the camp.

They barrelled through the forest, back towards the gentle, flickering light of the campfire, where Tenzin and Kya were helping a very battered looking Bumi down from Oogi’s saddle.

They deposited him onto one of the bedrolls and he stretched out with a groan. Ikki instantly flung herself into Tenzin’s arms, followed closely by Jinora and Meelo. “Korra was right!” Ikki crowed. “You found us!”

Tenzin slowly lowered her to the ground with a wince. “A little worse for wear, maybe, but yes. I’ll always find you, Ikki. All of you.”

The children detached themselves, allowing Pema to embrace Tenzin with Rohan squished between them. “We were so worried.”

“Oh yeah, no,” Bumi complained loudly from the ground, “don’t worry about me—the great, injured hero of the day! That’s okay!”

“Shush, you,” Kya chided him as she accepted a hug from Jinora. “You’re going to be fine.”

Korra lingered on the fringes of the camp in an attempt to give the family some space, but Kya’s eyes found her almost immediately. She turned to Korra, arms outstretched expectantly. “I’m glad you all made it okay.”

Korra hesitantly accepted the hug. “What happened? We saw the temple…”

“Yeah!” Meelo shouted as he firmly and seriously shook Bumi’s hand in greeting. “It was all, _‘gsssssssh’_ and the mountain was all, _“kkkrrrraaaaaaak—”_

“There was an earthbender there,” Tenzin interrupted as he slowly lowered himself nearer to the fire. “He can lavabend, apparently.”

Korra crouched close to Bumi. “Are you alright? I can help heal you, if you want…?”

Bumi waved dismissively. “Oh no, I’m fine. It looks a lot worse than it is; Kya helped fix me up after we got off the mountain.” He swung the bag from around his shoulders off and pushed it towards Korra. “This could probably use a metalbender’s touch though.”

Korra opened the bag and gently scooped up her radio. The satellite dish was bent and the casing dented, but it was mostly intact.

Korra set it aside and threw her arms around Bumi’s neck. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyo—”

“Okay, okay! I’m still injured here!” Bumi said with a startled yelp.

Korra released him and cradled the radio in her hands. “Sorry. Just… thank you so much. How did you manage to get it out of there?”

Bumi straightened his back as best as he could and puffed out his chest exaggeratedly. “So there we were. Just me and two dozen Red Lotus—oh, and Kya was there too,” he added with a sheepish look at Kya. “Tenzin and Oogi were all the way on the other side of the temple, with at least a dozen more between us—”

“We passed close to your room on the way over to find Tenzin,” Kya interjected with a roll of her eyes. “He insisted we stop and grab it.”

Korra swallowed thickly and fought back tears. “I can’t thank you enough. Both of you.”

Bumi looked a bit shy. “Yeah, well, thank you for making sure they got out of there safely,” he said quietly as he nodded towards Pema and the kids, who were still hovering close to Tenzin.

Korra cast a guilty look over to them and lowered her voice further. “They saw me bend more than one element. I-I’m sorry, I was careless.”

Bumi sighed. “I figured that might happen. It’s okay kid.” Bumi patted her on the shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.”

“So, what do we do now?” Korra asked, speaking normally again.

“We’ll have to go east. To Shèng Xià,” Bumi answered with a frown.

“Don’t call it that,” Kya said sharply. “That’s not its name, I don’t care what the Queen says.”

Bumi shrugged. “It’s been Shèng Xià for five hundred years. Way to hold a grudge, Kya.”

“Regardless,” Tenzin said slowly, “you’re right. If the Red Lotus have found us, then we’ll have to meet with the White Lotus.”

“Wait, where are we going? What’s Shèng Xià?”

“Before it was a colony, Shèng Xià was a city called Ba Sing Se,” Kya replied. “Then the monarchy moved the seat of power to the colony and named _it_ Ba Sing Se.”

“Not the most popular of decisions,” Bumi said wryly.

Korra blinked. “You’ve lost me. Again.” Korra could feel frustration biting at the back of her neck, but she tamped it down. Everyone was on edge and exhausted, and blowing up again at the lack of answers wouldn’t help.

Tenzin pursed his lips. “There’s a lot we haven’t explained. There was supposed to be time…”

“Well, there isn’t,” Kya said quietly. “She deserves to know what’s expected of her.”

Tenzin sighed resignedly. “Very well, I suppose there’s no choice. How to put this…”

“How about you start with, ‘the Earth is dying’?” Bumi sat up with a pained grunt before continuing, “That seems like a pretty good place to begin.”

Tenzin glared at Bumi, but Korra stilled. She remembered what Asami had told her the last time they had spoken. “Asami mentioned that Earth looked… strange. Like something was wrong…”

“That’s an understatement, kid.”

“You aren’t helping, Bumi,” Tenzin said shortly. “But it’s true. There is a… corruption, I suppose is the best word, and it’s spreading across the planet, making it impossible for anything to grow.”

Korra squinted in thought. “Where is it coming from?”

“The Spirit World. There are two portals, one in the North Pole and one in the South Pole. The one in the North is closed, but the one in the South is open, and its corruption is slowly spreading all over the world.”

“Okay, so why don’t you close it?”

Kya bit her lip. “Only the Avatar can open and close a Spirit Portal.”

Understanding dawned on Korra. “You need me to close the portal.”

“Yes, but the Red Lotus are determined to keep it open, and in fact, open the Northern Spirit Portal as well. Which is why they need you.”

“That seems…” Korra paused to search for the right word. “Stupid? Yeah, _stupid_. Why would they want the corruption to, uh, eat the world?”

“Chaos,” Bumi said with a shrug.

Tenzin gave him another look. “They believe that the Spirit World and the human world were always meant to be connected. They no longer want a barrier. Or a bridge, which is you.”

“So they’ll use me to open the Northern Portal, then kill me?”

Tenzin grimaced. “Presumably. Though their motives are rather… unclear to us.”

As overwhelmed as Korra was, she was grateful that the pieces were beginning to fit together. She was finally getting answers, even if she didn’t fully understand their context. “Then… how did they know where to find me? Why did they attack us?”

Kya answered this time. “They weren’t looking for you, they were looking for us. They know our association with the White Lotus and the Avatar. They just happened to find you too, which they weren’t expecting.”

“Okay. So we go to Shèng Xià, find the White Lotus, and they… help us get to the Southern Portal?” When Tenzin nodded she added, “Which I assume the Red Lotus are protecting? Heavily?”

Bumi laughed. “You got that right.”

“Super,” Korra said dryly. “So we get past all of them, somehow, and I just… close the portal, which I don’t know how to do.” She was met with a long beat of silence and she couldn’t help but hang her head while she considered everything that had been said. It wasn’t long though, before she finally swallowed thickly and set her jaw determinedly as she raised her head. “Okay. Let’s do it,” she said with a firm nod.

“There’s more, of course,” Kya said. “But it can probably wait. We should get some sleep and head out at first light. The city isn’t very far, but we should still rest.”

Korra nodded distractedly as she stood. “Okay, but I’m going to try and get in touch with Asa— _Republic_ , first.”

She tucked her radio under her arm and left the camp, pushing past the underbrush until she found a clearing away from camp where she could see Xuan Wu. As she bent the radio back into its proper shape, she muttered to herself in a mocking tone, “‘Oh yeah Asami, everything is fine. There’s just a band of insane murderers after us and I have to go directly at them to save the world. No biggie.”

She sighed in relief when the radio sparked to life. “No biggie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _answers?_ how dare i who do i think i am
> 
> I'm sick. Pls send comments (and cute facts about animals)
> 
> (( _cute_ facts))
> 
> Edit 7/11: Now beta'd by osmrice, thank christ.


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